Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children
by giuly666
Summary: Movie AU with Female Jacob Portman
1. Chapter 1

**Miss Peregrine's House for Peculiar Children**

 _ **Chapter 1**_

" _You ever feel like nothing you do matters? You leave footprints on the beach and somehow, they are gone. Like it's just today, over again. They say that your teen years are for making friends and having fun. Which made me feel even worse."_

I was rearranging the packs of adult diapers in the supermarket I worked at, when I saw someone coming near me. I turned and saw Amy, my childhood friend. We were close at that time, before I was given my wolves and she became jealous.

"Hey, Amy. It's Jacky. Do you remember me? I'm in your math class. We used to be friends." I told her, making her look at me. I could see the envy and the jealousy still there. 'She didn't change…'

"Hey, don't forget your adult diapers." she said to her group of friends, throwing them a pack and making me worry. 'Please, don't.'

"Yeah, right." the boy who caught the pack said, before throwing the pack back and making all the others fall back. I put my hands in my hair before lowering them, letting out a defeated sigh. They went away, Amy turning back to give me a strange look. 'As if she can feel sorry for me after all this time…'

"Jacky!" I heard someone calling my name. I turned to see Shelley, my colleague, coming toward me. "It's a phone for you." she told me, pointing at the office. I went to answer, knowing it was important since everyone knew not to phone me while I was working. I reached the phone and brought it to my ear.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Hey, Jacky. It's my, mom. Can you do me a favour and check on your grandfather when you're done working?" I heard ma's voice answering me.

"Okay, no problem. But, shouldn't pa be the one to check on grandpa?" I asked her, furrowing my eyebrows.

"Your father can't move, you see. He's working at his book." she told me with an exasperated sigh. I nodded, before remembering that she couldn't see me.

"Okay, I will check on grandpa, and maybe, I'll stay over for the night. Do you need my help at home?" I inquired, hoping to get a 'no' for answer.

"No, you can stay over, just take care of him. Please. You are the only one he wouldn't mind getting help from." she told me. 'Yep, I already knew that…'

"Okay. Bye ma." I told her, getting a 'bye' from her before she ended the call. I put the phone back down and exited the office. I went back to my job, putting the packs back in order once again. Time just didn't seem to pass. When it was time to go home, I was incredibly tired and bored. I went to Shelley. She usually picked me up to go to work and brought me back home, since we were neighbours and we worked at the same supermarket.

" _But that day, everything changed."_

"Thanks again, Shelley." I told her as we got into her car. She waved me off and started the car. We drove to the dog sitter's house, where I usually left my two beautiful wolves before I went to work. The dog sitter was the best in the city and she'd been on the army for a while, before she left to become a dog sitter. We came to the house and, before I could even get out of the car, my two pets came running to greet me. They were two big wolves: one was a black furred male with red eyes, his name was Jabez, from Hebrew, it meant 'sorrow'; the other was a snow white furred female with blue eyes, she was Tikvah, her name was Jewish for 'hope'. My grandma gave them to me as a present for my sixth birthday. They were new-borns at that time, meaning they were now ten years old. It didn't look like it though, as they were always full of energy. They were really big. They came up to my waist with their backs, their heads coming up to my chest when kept high. They jumped around me, knowing not to jump _on_ me as they were also too heavy for me to stand.

"Hello, there." I fondly told them, they were the only ones, apart from my grandfather, that were able to make me smile with really happiness. I was used to give fake smiles to people, even to my own parents. I knew it was a terrible thing to do, but I always felt different from them. I had a deep bond with my wolves, deeper than a normal bond between pet and human. I couldn't remember a time when I couldn't hear my wolves speak. Not the normal speak with phrases and so on, but one with feelings and emotions, words were rare. When I was young, I told this to my parents. They laughed at me and told me that animals couldn't speak. But, when I told my grandparents, they believed me. Grandma even told me she too could hear them. From that moment, I became even closer to my grandparents. I considered them my real parents. When my grandmother died, two years later, I felt as if a part of me was gone too. Grandpa and I became even more closer. But then, grandpa started showing symptoms of dementia. I was heartbroken.

"Have you been good?" I asked my wolves, feeling their happiness and contentment.

"They have been like angels, as always." A voice told me, making me raise my eyes from my pets to the dog sitter, Jennifer. She was smiling at the sight of me and my little ones.

"That's good to hear." I told her, getting out my wallet from my bag. I took out a 100$ banknote and gave it to her. She was really cheap. She made me pay 100 $ for five days, food included. She took them with reluctance, since she wanted to be paid only 75 $, but I insisted for it to be 100 $.

"Thanks. See you next week." She told me, waving at me as I brought my babies to the car, where Shelley was waiting from me with a small smile.

"Yeah, see you." I told her. I then got the wolves in the back of the car and got back in the passenger's seat. Shelley then started the car once again and we went to my grandpa's house. As she drove, Shelley didn't stop smiling, giving me a look every now and then.

"You know. I've known you for the past two years and the only time I see real joy on your face is when you are with your pets." she suddenly told me, causing me to look at her.

"Oh. I guess it's because they are my companions and my grandma's last present." I told her, a small sad smile on my face. She nodded at me.

"So, how come you have to go deal with your grandpa?" Shelley asked me, after a while. The wolves were dozing in the backseat. I looked out of the window.

"My dad couldn't get out of work." I told her, my voice cold.

"I didn't think he worked." she told me, making me nod. 'Many people think that.'

"You know, I'm... I'm just gonna call grandpa." I told her, before taking out my phone and dialling his number. I knew it by heart.

"Hello, this is Abe." a rough voice answered.

"Hey, it's Jacky." I told him, before being interrupted.

"No, don't come here. Listen to me. It's not safe! Stay away." he told me, making me frown. The wolves woke up and looked at me. 'They probably felt the spike in my emotions.'

"Grandpa, did you take your pills today?" I asked him, my voice soft and sad.

"The key! To my gun cabinet... it was in the drawer. And now it's gone!" he told me, his voice full of anxiety. The wolves raised their heads, looking at the phone.

"Yeah, Dad took it. All right. For safekeeping. It's okay." I told him, trying to calm him down. "I'm coming over with the wolves." I told him. 'Maybe this will reassure him a bit.'

"Your father thinks I should to fight them without a gun?" he asked me, before ending the call. I stared at my phone, not knowing what to think. I then put it back in my bag.

"God bless him. What's his deal? Alzheimer?" Shelley asked me.

I shook my head before answering with "Dementia.". We stopped talking after that. The ride was long and we had to stop once to let the wolves move a bit. As we got close to the neighbourhood where my grandpa lived, fog started to appear. Shelley slowed down. Suddenly, a man appeared in the middle of the street. Shelley had to steer the car at the last moment, as not to run him over. We both were scared, knowing just what could have happened if Shelley hadn't been fast enough to avoid him. As we passed him, I looked back to see him. I froze. White eyes. My wolves started growling and baring their teeth at the man. I turned back at tried to calm them down.

"That guy gave me the heebie-jeebies." Shelley told me, her smile nervous.

"Yeah, I think it did the same to my pups, I can't get them to calm down." I told her, not stopping petting their heads. 'What's wrong, sweethearts?'

When we arrived at my grandpa's house it was already dark. I got out of the car and helped my pups out. I started walking to the door, my babies following after.

"Holler if you need me." Shelley called out to me from her car. I nodded at her, before going to the door and knocking. The wolves were agitated. They didn't stop looking around, they kept even closer to me. They usually were very calm every time we went to grandpa's home. After not getting an answer, I started getting worried. 'He always answers the door. Especially when he knows I'm coming over.'

"Grampa!" I called out, hoping he would come to open the door. I still heard nothing. The pups started shaking so I looked down at them and saw them with teeth bared. I got a bad feeling and took out my keys, opening the door and finding the house upside down. I looked around, letting the wolves in as I entered. They started sniffing around before they both went to the back door. I followed them and saw the screen door destroyed. I followed the pups out of the house to see them staring at the fence, which was ripped in half. I turned around and went to the side of the house, where I could see Shelley.

"Shelley!" I called out to her, making her get out of the car. She came closer.

"What's going on?" she asked me, worried.

"Someone broke in!" I told her, my voice starting to get shaky.

"I have a 38 in my car, you wait there." she told me, before going back to her car. I wanted to do as she said, but I couldn't. I turned back to my wolves to see them near the fence, sniffing at something on the ground. I reached them and saw a torch on the ground. I took it and felt it wet. I turned it on and pointed the light at my hands to find them covered in blood. My own blood ran cold at that. 'Grandpa! Oh God! I need to find him!'

I lowered my hand to the wolves so that they could sniff the blood.

"Come on, sweethearts. Find grandpa for me." I ordered them with urgency. They felt my emotions and started sniffing around, before Tikvah suddenly raised her head and howled. She ran off, followed by Jabez and myself. When we reached her, she was with her head down. I looked at what she was sniffing and saw my grandpa.

"Grandpa!" I called him, kneeling down beside him. Jabez was on my right, looking down and whimpering, Tikvah doing the same on the other side of grandpa. He was lying face down on the ground, arms raised. I turned him around but, when I looked at his face, I let out a yelp and sat back on my heels. This caused the pups to growl. My grandfather's eyes were missing. 'Who could have done that?! What the fucking hell is going on?!'

I took out my phone, dialling 911 as soon as I could with my trembling hands. My breath was short and fast. Jabez got closer to me, trying to calm me down a bit, and leaned to my side, his head resting against mine. I put the phone to my ear.

"911, what is your emergency?" I heard the operator.

"911? Yeah I... I need the para-medics to 2040 Palm Circle. My grandpa..." I tried to tell them, before my grandfather's hand shot up to take my left one. I yelped again, letting the phone fall on the ground. I could hear the woman on the other asking me for my emergency. My wolves got closer to him, both licking his cheeks.

"Grandpa." I breathed out, before leaning over him.

"You have to get away from here. Please, listen. Go to the Island..." he told me, his voice a whisper. I held his hand in mine, trying to let him know I was there with him. I could hear the woman on the phone telling me the para-medics were on their way, but I couldn't care at the moment.

"Find Emerson... The postcard... go to the loop... September 3rd, 1943." he whispered, his breath getting slower and raspier.

"It's okay, just... just don't move. There's an ambulance coming." I told him, sobbing. I knew what was happening, I was losing my grandpa, the one man who had been a father to me, more than my real one had ever been. I couldn't stop crying as I held tighter on his hand.

"I know you think I'm crazy. But the Bird will explain everything." he said.

"No, I don't think you're crazy, I never did." I told him, shaking my head.

"Will you do this, Tygryscu? Promise me?" he asked me. I could barely hear his voice.

"I promise, yes..." I told him, nodding.

"I thought I could protect you. I should have told you years ago." he told me, making me furrow my eyebrows.

"Grandpa! Tell me... tell me what?" I asked him but, before he could answer me, I felt his hold loosen and saw his chest stop moving. I froze. "Grandpa… Grandpa!" I called, starting to shake him. I didn't want it to be real. I laid my head on his chest, trying to hear his heartbeat, but I heard nothing. I raised my head again and looked at him. I started caressing his cheek, hoping that he would wake up and start laughing. 'No… Please no, please… Not him… Not again… You already took away my grandma… Don't take away my grandpa…please…'

I let myself fall onto his chest and started to cry. I hugged him, not wanting to ever let go. Suddenly, there were growls, deep and angry. I raised my head, not letting go of my grandpa ad I did, to look at my wolves. They both were looking toward the direction we came from. I looked over at the trees and saw them moving. There was no wind. 'Maybe it's what killed grandpa…'

As I stared, I saw a big head among the tree branches. It had no eyes and a large fanged mouth and, from its mouth, there were tentacles coming out. I froze, remembering grandpa's old stories about monsters. 'They were real…'

As it came toward us, I saw Shelley come running to me. The monster raised his arm and opened his mouth, tentacles shooting out.

"Shelley, behind you!" I screamed. She turned and shot. I looked up to see the monster getting wounded but it was able to escape. My wolves made to follow it but I stopped them. I couldn't lose someone else. I once again lowered my head down. His body was getting cold, which reminded me that _this is not a nightmare, it's real_. I felt my breathing getting faster, my entire body trembling. My wolves howled to the sky as I screamed. My tears flowing out and my heart full of pain. I couldn't think. I couldn't talk. I just bawled. And screamed. And trembled. I rocked back and forth as I cried. My hands were fisting on his clothes. My screams stopped, my throat dry and hurting. My cries got worst and I started having problems breathing. I started seeing black spots in my sight, then darkness took over and I gladly let it.

I woke up in my room. As I sat up, my babies came running on the bed. They started licking my entire face and neck. I put my arms one around each and held them tight to my sides. My throat was raw and my head was killing me. But the worst thing was my heartache. I felt my chest heavy. I recalled what happened and suddenly started crying once again, my pups licking my tears away. I heard the door of my room open and raised my head. My ma was there, looking at me with wet red eyes. She came to me and sat on the bed. She hugged my close to her chest and laid down, taking me with her. Together, we cried for our loss. Ma was close to grandpa, she thought of him as a second father figure. I fell asleep in her arms, listening to her heartbeat as my wolves laid down on the bed, near our legs. The next time I woke up, I was alone in my bed. Tikvah and Jabez were still sleeping. I sat up and moved closer to them, lying down where my legs had been as I slept. I put my arms around them and brought them close to me, breathing in their calming smell. I then moved up and got off the bed. I changed in my pyjamas and went to take a glass of water. I didn't care whether it was day or night. I didn't care how much time I spent sleeping. I just took my glass of water, ignoring everything and everyone.

"Jacky," I heard a voice call. I turned and saw ma looking at me with worried eyes. "when you are ready, you should tell the police what you saw. Also, the funeral will be held in less than a week time." she gently told me. I nodded and went back to my room. I changed into the clothes I had when I found grandpa. I didn't have the energy to think about what to wear. I let the wolves sleep and went back to the living room. I saw pa opening the door and two men, police, came in. I set in the armchair while they went to sit on one of the sofas. I told them everything that I saw, _everything_. The men told us that my grandpa had a heart attack and that dogs ate his eyes. 'What a bunch of shit they are saying.'

I nodded, not wanting to hear any more of their idiocies and pa showed them out. I moved my eyes to the glass of water I still held in my hand. 'How can people be so blind to what is really out there…'

"Jacky, sweetie, your mother and I thought that, maybe, you could go to someone to talk about what you saw. They might help you, you know. It might be good for you if-" my pa was saying before I interrupted him with a glare.

"You want me to go to a psychologist?" I hissed out at him, eyes hard. He nodded before saying "It might help.". I shook my head at him, before mobbing my eyes to ma. She was glaring at pa's back. 'She didn't agree with him…'

I nodded and went back to my room with my glass. I put it on the bedside table and laid down between my wolves. I cried once again, thinking about how my grandparents would have believed me. I fell asleep, an empty feeling in my chest. This last week was full of sorrow and empty. The day of the funeral I dressed up in black. I put black foulards around my pups' necks and we went to the cemetery. The function was short. As they put him in the ground, I felt my breathing starting to get short once again. I waited until everyone was gone before going near the tombstone. It was my grandmother's tombstone. It was large enough for two names, as my grandparents wished to be buried together. I knelt down in front of it and hugged it. I felt my wolves coming up behind me and lying down at my sides. I wept. I felt so alone. I felt as if I was an orphan now.

It had been a month since my grandfather passed away. I fell into a depression not long after his burial. I got out of it thanks to my pups. They didn't leave me alone a second. I was always with them and this also helped my powers to grow. I now could understand their language and could communicate with them. I also found out that I could see through their eyes and other things. It felt as if I was in their bodies. The first time was an accident. I was lost in my own mind when I suddenly saw myself petting my black fur. The next moment I was back in my body and looked at Jabez with wide eyes. Since then I trained, with their permission, to enter their bodies and now I could be in both of their bodies at the same time, even if it was incredibly tiring. I also started researching that creature I saw in the woods, probably the same that killed my grandpa. As of now, I didn't find anything on them. I also started going to the psychologist, Ms. Golan. I told her about my family and my life, without outing my powers or those of my grandparents. My wolves were hostile toward the psychologist, making me wary of her. I knew not to doubt their instincts.

'And here I am, pretending to be normal…'

"There was no one there." I told Ms. Golan, telling her about the night my grandfather died.

"May I say Jacky... that considering that this was only a month ago, I think you're doing exceptionally well." she told me with a gentle tone. My pups were lying down on the floor at my feet, their eyes never leaving my psychologist's form.

"Apart from being crazy?" I asked her with sarcasm. 'Even though I know I'm not…'

"Having nightmares and anxiety doesn't make you crazy." she told me with a smile.

"And what about seeing things which aren't there?" I questioned her, curious to hear what she would answer.

"Actually, in dramatic situations it's not at all uncommon. Your subconscious mind draws an image from a movie, or..." she said before being interrupted by me.

"It was a story." I stopped her, making her nod at me to continue. "My grandpa told me stories when I was a kid. About monsters that he fought in the war." I explained to her, trying to make it look like I didn't believe in that anymore.

"So, there you go. He was brutally attacked. And in your head the man who did it was inhuman. A monster." she told me. I could hear the smugness in her voice, even if it was barely there. 'She's probably happy that she could find a reasonable explanation for my problems.'

"It wasn't a man though. The cops said that dogs scratched up the screen door. And he chased them off into the woods. And the coroner said he had a heart attack. And the cops said that dogs go for the soft parts. They DNA tested the fork and head. Animal DNA. So, that's case closed." I explained once more, trying not to cry at the idiocy.

"He sounds like an extraordinary gentleman. Were you very close?" she asked me. I started telling her about my childhood, making sure to avoid the parts where my powers where mentioned.

 _-Jacqueline is 6 years old-_

 _I was sitting in mama's lap as I heard papa talk. The puppies were sleeping on the carpet._

" _Puerto Rico. Here. There is a lake where the water glows in the dark. And a secret tunnel. That's where I hid from the monsters." he told me, pointing at a place on the map. Mama gave me a piece of red paper so that I could put it on the island papa was pointing._

"He used to babysit me together with my grandma, I called them papa and mama." I told the psychologist. "And, when I was with them, I felt special".

 _I heard the door open and turned to see ma and pa coming in._

" _Abe. Autumn. It's like 11 o'clock. What is she doing up?" ma asked them as she came close to kiss my forehead. Mama smiled at me and caressed my hair as I spoke._

" _I'm going to be an explorer. Papa and Mama are helping me for my first voyage." I exaltedly told my ma. She smiled as she went to the bedroom where she slept with pa. Pa was seated on the couch, looking at the TV._

" _Everything has already been discovered, sweetie." pa told me without turning. I became sad at his words. Mama hugged me._

" _Pay no attention to your father." she told me, before kissing my cheek and making me smile. Papa took me in his arms and mama went to their room._

" _He knows bubkiss. Come Tygryscu, off to bed." papa said, as he brought me to my room. He put me to bed and tucked me in, before sitting at the end of the bed with his legs lying near my side. Mama came in with the puppies and put them under the covers, each one on a side of me. She smiled and kissed my cheek once more before going out, wishing me sweet dreams and kissing papa on the cheek as she went._

" _Can you tell me a story?" I asked papa, looking at him and bringing the puppies on my chest, where I hugged them close._

" _The usual?" papa asked me, making me nod. "Okay. Once upon a time there was a little boy." he started._

" _Where are the pictures?" I asked him, interrupting the story. He nodded, saying "Pictures.", and sat up. I too sat up with the puppies still in my arms and waited for him to take them._

" _Once upon a time there was a little boy called Abe." papa started telling the story once more._

" _That was you." I interrupted him again._

" _That was me." he nodded. "And he lived in a lovely children's home on a little island near Wales. Where the sun shone every day. The Headmistress, Miss Peregrine... was very clever and she smoked her pipe." he told me, as he pretended to hold a pipe in his hand._

" _She could turn into a bird." I interrupted him again._

" _Mmm." he hummed and nodded. "It was a home for special children. Like Bronwyn... and Victor. They were both as strong as ten men. And Hugh. Hugh had bees living inside him." he told me._

" _Where is Emma?" I asked him, wanting to hear about the girl I was named after. "She could float." I told him, making him nod at my words._

" _She was lighter than air. She had to wear special shoes made of lead to keep her from floating away." he explained me._

" _And Enoch? Where is he? And Olive?" I asked him._

" _Ah. Enoch was a necromancer. He could bring to life dolls and clay figures with the hearts of the animals. He always preferred to be alone, except for Olive. Olive was his adopted sister, she could harness fire. They both came from families that were scared of them. When they met, they saw how similar they were to one another and asked Miss Peregrine to make them siblings, after they got to know each other better. She, of course, was happy to see her children getting along and so, she accepted." he told me, making me nod._

" _Where are they now?" I asked him, curious._

" _They're still on the Island, I believe. My mom and papa sent me there to live with the special children. And now Tygryscu, time to sleep." he told me, before tucking me back to bed, the puppies sleeping on my chest._

"He used to call me Tygryscu. It's Polish, for little tiger. Couldn't have picked a less appropriate nickname, I was always a chicken." I explained to the psychologist.

" _Why your mom and dad send you away?" I asked him. "Where we lived in Poland, it was not safe. There were monsters." he told me, making me sit up once more._

" _What kind of monsters?" I asked him with wide eyes._

" _Huge ones. With long arms and no eyes. And tentacles like this." he told me, mobbing his fingers to mimic tentacles._

"The dumb thing was, for years I actually believed his stories." I told the psychologist. 'Because they were real.'

 _-Jacquelin's is 10 years old-_

" _And a th... this is Millard, he's invisible." I said as I showed a picture of him to my class. They all started laughing, Amy's laugh was louder than the others'. I cried... When I came home, after being greeted by my puppies, I took the chest where the pictures were and gave it back to grandpa, who was seated on the sofa. I sat down too._

" _My teacher says they are trick photos." I told him, my voice sad._

" _And did you believe her?" grandpa asked me._

" _Pa says probable you found with junk stores some place that you were traveling." I told him, tears in my eyes._

" _I would never lie to you, Tygryscu." he told me, looking at me with sad eyes._

" _About the home... the monsters. Pa told me." I said, my tears finally falling from my eyes._

" _Your father knows very well I went to live in the children's home." he told me, his voice low._

" _He said there anywhere monsters in Poland. Just not the kind with tentacles. He said you got sent away to Wales because there were bad people. People who wanted to kill anyone who was different." I told him, sobbing._

" _I do not want to talk about this anymore." he told me._

" _He said children were special. But not the way you said." I told him. He looked at me and hugged me, sitting closer to me._

'And that's when I knew everyone else was wrong about grandpa and grandma.'

"That is what happened." I told the doctor. I looked at the clock on the wall and saw it was time for me to go. I stood up, my babies doing the same, as did the psychologist.

"Thank you for opening up to me and telling me your story." she told me as we shook hands. I exited and walked home with my wolves by my sides.


	2. Chapter 2

**Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children**

 _ **Chapter 2**_

As I came home, I went to my room right away. My stomach was close thanks to remembering how cruel people were to my grandparents. My wolves came in and got on the bed. I followed them and laid down. As I was lying down, I started to think about what more I could do with my powers. 'Maybe, I can control them… I was able to go into their minds and bodies… maybe, they can do the same…'

I sat up, gaining my babies' attention. I stared at them, before closing my eyes and starting to meditate. I focalized what I wanted to do and started trying. I stopped a minute, opening my eyes and looking at them. I mentally asked them if they agreed ad they nodded. I closed my eyes once again and went back to concentrate. I started to feel as if I was in a tight dress. I opened my eyes and my pups weren't there anymore. I looked around but couldn't see them. I suddenly felt a tingling on my chest and looked down. I saw a tattoo in between my clavicles: it showed tow wolves' heads, one black with red eyes, Jabez, on the right; the other was white with blue eyes, Tikvah, on the left. I could feel them in my mind and felt myself becoming stronger. My strength, my senses, my own soul, they felt better, as if I was whole once again.

I then started to think of how to reverse it and started to feel the tingling disappear, then I felt the bed dip again and opened my eyes. I saw my pups on the bed and smiled. I jumped up on the bed, happy that my experiment was successful and that I wasn't tired out like I usually was. My pups got up too and started barking like mad.

"What's going on?" I felt a voice coming from the door and saw my mom there, looking at me with wide eyes. I stopped jumping up and down, not knowing what to do.

"I-I… We…" I started, not knowing if it was right to tell her my secret or not. I decided that this was it. "Ma, I have to tell you something but, you have to promise me not to laugh at me or hate me after this…" I told her, my face serious.

"Baby, what…" she started to ask, before she saw the seriousness on my face and the fear in my eyes. "Okay, I promise." She told me, coming to sit on my bed, the pups having already moved to the end of the bed.

"Ma, there is a reason why I have always been closer to my grandparents. I am special… Not in the way you always said I was, but it's more of a different speciality." I told her, realizing I was confusing her, by the look on her face.

"What? What do you mean, baby?" she asked me, her voice starting to sound worried.

"Ma, what I'm going to show you has nothing to do with magic or religion, okay? But I need you to stay calm and trust me." I told her, getting a nod from her. I started to focus on getting them to get into my body, like I did before. I felt the same tingling and heard a little scream. I opened my eyes and looked at my mother. Her eyes were full of fear and she moved back. I lowered my eyes, regretting the idea of telling her. 'She will try to bring me to some asylum or she will throw me out.'

"My baby… all this time… how could I be so blind?" I heard her whisper. I looked up at her to see her eyes full of love and understanding. I felt my tears falling out of my eyes from the joy.

"Do you still love me?" I asked her, wanting to hear it from her mouth.

"Of course, I love you. You are my baby girl. The most precious thing I have in this life. I only screamed because your wolves disappeared and I know how much you care for them. Wait! They disappeared! What?" she started getting worried, looking around the room. I took her hand in mine, trying to calm her down.

"Ma, it's alright. They are here. With me." I told her, gaining her attention once more. I moved my shirt down so that I could show her my tattoo. She looked down and her eyes widened.

"It… They are… Is it them?" she asked me with awe. I nodded at her, smiling wide. She smiled back, raising a hand to touch the tattoo. "Oh my, all this time." I heard her muttering, before she looked at me. "Thank you for sharing your secret with me." she told me, before she hugged me tight and kissing my forehead. "Okay, I think it's enough for today." she said, smirking and waving to the bed. "But I want to see them once again." she told me. I grinned, and let them out once again. They yipped at me, before lying down on my bed. "You know, your eyes changed." she told me, before standing up and moving to the door.

"What?" I asked her, frowning.

"Your eyes, the right one became red, the left one got even bluer." she answered me. "Good night, baby girl. And sweet dreams." she wished me, before going out. I was a bit weirded out by the revelation. 'Wow…'

I changed into my pyjamas and went to bed, my pups following me into slumber. I woke once more, hearing my ma yell at my pa. I turned away from the door and fell back asleep.

When I woke up, the next morning, I saw my door open and ma's head coming in. "Hey, baby girl. I know you won't like this. But you have to go with your father to Abe's house to see what to keep from his things." she told me, trying to smile but it became a grimace soon enough. I rolled my eyes and nodded, knowing it was useless to complain. I changed into my clothes, then I gave raw meat to my sweethearts. I went to the car and waited for pa, I wasn't even hungry, thanks to the prospect of the day that was waiting for me. My babies were seated at my feet, their tails moving from right to left. After 10 minutes or so, I saw pa coming out and coming over. He opened the car and I went in the backseat with my pups. Pa started the car, trying to start conversations with me once or twice, before giving up after my silence. 'I don't want to talk with you, you've always thought grandpa was mad…'

We arrived to the house, which reminded me of that night. I pushed back my tears, focusing instead on my wolves. They had moved closer to me as the car came to a stop. We came down and entered the house. I hesitated on the door, before Tikvah came up to me and nudged me in the side with her nuzzle. I went to the living room, and started looking around to see what I should keep. I heard pa entering the house and moving toward the hallway. As I looked, I found an old photo. It was one of my grandpa, my grandma and myself when I was six years old. I was dressed in a light blue dress. My hair was kept back in an infinity braid and I was holding the puppies in my arms. They were so small. I had a big smile on my face and my eyes were bright with joy. Behind me, grandma and grandpa were standing side by side. Grandma had her hands on my shoulders, smiling at the camera. Her hair, black with some white patches, was down to her back. I knew it came down to the middle of her back. She was dressed with a light-yellow dress, which stopped and the knees. Her eyes were full of love. On her right side, grandpa was smiling; one hand on grandma's left shoulder, the other one on my head. My puppies were awake, with their tongues out. We had just finished playing when the photo was taken. I smiled at the photo in my hand. I knew my grandparents kept the photo bit I thought they had put it away. I felt my pa coming into the living room

"You find something good?" he asked me, as he came near me to look at what I was holding. "Aw. Look at that. That's awesome. You take that. Come on sweetie, let's roll." he told me, before moving to the door.

"How are you so okay?" I asked him, not understanding how he could be so normal after his own father died. 'How can you be so cold?'

"Jacky, you were a lot closer to him than I ever was. He was a wonderful grandpa. But not... not such a great dad, you know? Never seemed to pick a job that didn't involve late nights and long trips away though. Me and Aunt Susie always kinda thought he was maybe cheating on our mom." he told me as he sat on the couch. "I am sorry, sweetie. I know how much you worshipped him but there it is." I looked away, not wanting to believe how cruel my father could be. I took the photo will me and we went back home. The ride was tense and I couldn't wait to get out of the car. When we got back home, I took my pups and went to the door. As I opened it, I got scared when I heard "Surprise!" being shouted by many voices. I froze, my wolves getting closer to me as if they wanted to protect me from my family. 'They probably felt my emotions once again.'

"Happy Birthday, cousin Jacky." my twin cousins told me, speaking together. They were so creepy when they did that. 'Can't they just shut up and be cute?'

I smiled, trying not to show how tense I was. My uncle and aunt, the parents of the twins, came to us and started gushing.

"Jacky, its great you've to come to spend the summer with us." my uncle told me. I nodded, not knowing what to say.

"Wait till you see the new dogs." my aunt told me, leaning in a bit as she did so.

"Can't wait." I told her, trying to smile once again. I saw my ma behind them. She was trying not to laugh. From that, I knew that my smile was actually a grimace. I excused myself and went to my room. As I closed the door, I heard someone scratch the door and opened it to let the pups in. I went to sit on the bed and they followed me on it. They laid down, putting their heads in my lap. I started petting them when I heard a knock on my door. I turned and saw my aunt coming in.

"It's aunt Susie." she said, smiling a bit and coming to sit near me, the wolves moving away to let her. "Thought you might want to open this one. It's from your grandpa. Found it while I was packing up. I figured he meant to give it to you someday." she said, handing me a small present. I looked down at it and smiled.

"Thanks." I told her. She smiled and went out. I started unwrapping the paper and found a book. I opened it, reading the first page. Under the title, there was my grandpa's handwriting. It said 'To Jacky, and the worlds she has yet to discover. With love, grandpa and grandma.'. It was probably a present they had prepared for me when I was still young. I turned the page and found a letter. I opened it and recognized my grandpa's handwriting once again.

 _~ Dear Jacqueline,_

 _I am writing this letter in the hope that you will never have to read this, for I would like to tell you myself when you are 18 years old. Unfortunately, I am unsure whether I will live to see you becoming the wonderful woman I know you will be._

 _There is something you need to know about your grandmother and myself. Firstly, the stories we used to tell you are real. You are special, just like your grandmother. She too could understand the wolves and control them. As you grow, so will your power. The House of Miss Peregrine is real. It is in Cairnholm, Wales. The children who live there are special. They are called peculiars. Each one has a unique peculiarity, or power. You have inherited your grandmother's peculiarity. There are loops for peculiar children like you. These loops are safe places where the children can live and be themselves, without hiding their peculiarities from the world. Your grandmother and I lived there, in two different loops. Your grandmother lived in the loop of Miss. Avocet, a Ymbryne. I, on the other hand, lived in Miss Peregrine's loop. We met at the front. I was a soldier; your grandmother was a nurse. She was fierce, in body and soul. She had her two wolves living inside her body. The only time she let them out was when they bred. That is how Jabez and Tikvah came to be._

 _I want you to know what really happened 8 years ago, to your grandmother. We all decided not to tell you the truth about her death. You might remember how we forbid you from seeing her before the coffin was closed. Eight years ago, I was hunting. That is why your grandmother was alone in the house. When I came home, I found the house upside down, with the back door destroyed. I ran out and found your grandmother's, my beloved Autumn, lifeless body on the ground. She had wounds, but what left me frozen were her eyes. They were missing. I knew what had happened. She was killed by the same monsters I told you about. The same ones I had been hunting all my life. She tried to fight back, but there is nothing you can do against them, if you are not prepared._

 _I do not know if you will gain other peculiarities, but know that, if you ever see monster with long arms, eyeless and with tentacles in their mouths, then you have to run and hide. Don't let them come near you. They will kill you, they have no mercy. For you to be safe, you will have to find Miss Peregrine's loop. She will explain everything to you and she will keep you safe. Beware of the people with white eyes, they are companions to the monsters._

 _With love,_

 _Your Grandfather,_

 _Abraham Portman._

 _P.S. Be strong, Tygryscu. ~_

As I finished reading, my cheeks were wet with my tears, my eyes wide and scared. I folded the letter, putting it on my pillow as I took the postcard that was under the letter. I looked at it and saw it was from Cairnholm. I turned it and read what was elegantly written on it.

 _~ My dearest Abe._

 _I hope this card finds you well. The children and I yearn to hear your news. I do hope you will visit us again soon. We should so love to see you._

 _With admiration,_

 _Alma Peregrine. ~_

I put it with the letter. I then stood, gaining my sweethearts' attention. They had stayed close to me as I cried over my grandpa's letter. I felt another knock on the door and turned in time to see ma coming in. She took a look at my red wet eyes and came to sit near me on the bed. She hugged me close to her and kissed my temple.

"What's wrong, baby?" she asked me, worried. I gave her the letter and the postcard, waiting for her to read them. When she finished, I could see the tears in her eyes and he determination shining in them. "Tomorrow we will go to your psychologist and ask her if it would be alright for you to go there." she told me, her voice firm, even if the tears didn't go away. I looked at her with wide eyes. She turned to me, seeing my face. "If she agrees, then you and I will go there and find this House. If she is against it, we will still go. I am your mother and what I say goes." she said, her eyes finally dry and her lips curved into a small smile. I smiled at her and hugged her tight. 'Thanks God, I have my mother.'

"But, wait, what will we tell everyone?" I asked her, moving away.

"We'll say that it will be a small journey for us to bond. Mother-daughter bonding and all that." she told me with determination. I nodded my head at her before she took her phone out and started typing.

"What are you doing?" I curiously asked her, moving closer to take a look at her phone.

"I'm looking for a last-minute flight to England and a ferry trip to Cairnholm, Wales." she said, not taking her eyes away from the screen. I looked at her and nodded, before looking at my babies. 'Wait…'

"What will we do about the pups?" I worriedly asked her. 'I don't want to leave them…'

"We will take them along, of course. But it might be better for them to be inside you when we board the airplane." she told me, making me nod at her. My puppies sat up, their tails going crazy with how much they were moving. I smiled at them and petted their heads. "Ah! I found it. Tomorrow evening, 9.00 pm. It's perfect. We would arrive around 6.00 am in Wales and then we would take the ferry to go to Cairnholm." ma told me, jumping up from the bed with a small exited scream. My pups got startled and jumped up too and started to bark, scaring ma and making her scream. I laughed, falling back on the bed. 'Oh God… it was hilarious…'

"Okay, okay." she said, bringing a hand to her chest, probably to calm her heart. My wolves calmed down too but the commotion they caused was big. Suddenly, my door opened once more and pa came in.

"What happened? I heard screaming, is everything alright?" he asked us, looking around to see what might have caused the screams.

"Yes, don't worry. I scared the pets and they scared me back." ma told him, causing him to nod. "Now that you are here," ma started saying, making pa go pale. I smirked but tried to hide it. "I want to go to Wales with Jacqueline." she told pa, making his eyes grow wide.

"What?" he asked, voice shaking.

"I want to do some mother-daughter bonding, and since I am in holidays from work, I don't see why we could go abroad for sometimes. It might help Jacky, being away from the places that hold such sad memories." she explained to him, knowing how to convince him. I saw pa nodding along ma's words, a pensive look in his eyes.

"Okay, why not? But we need to ask the psych-" he tried to say before ma interrupted him.

"The psychologist, I know. Since Jacky has a visit tomorrow, we will go too and see if it's a good idea for her." ma reassured him.

"Alright. Then, if everything is alright, I'll go." he said, probably not knowing what more to say. He exited and closed the door once again. Ma turned to me and offered me her hand. I took it, curious to know what she was planning, and she tugged me into a standing position. She then turned to the bed and pulled my suitcase out from under my bed. She opened it and turned to me.

"Come on, we need to get ready. No matter what that doctor says, we are going to Wales tomorrow night." she told me, waving at me to go choose the clothes I would be bringing to Wales with me. I went to the wardrobe and started pulling out warm clothes, knowing that the wheatear was cold in UK. She helped me folding them and putting them in the suitcase. We also put some foulards for the pups. She then pulled me to her room, the wolves running to follow us. We did the same with her suitcase. We then went back to the living room, where the guests were eating. Ma told them that we had somewhere to be and she brought me out to dinner. We ate at the Italian restaurant on the corner of the street, the one that welcomed the pets. I ate the Amatriciana while ma took a Carbonara. I also ordered raw meat for my babies and we stayed out late. When we got home, we went to bed right away, too tired to stay up and talk. I changed into my pyjamas, which I didn't put in the suitcase yet, and went under the covers. I pulled them high when my babies came on the bed, so that they could come in. We slept with no problem that night.

When I woke up the next morning, I was alone in bed. I got up and changed, before going to the kitchen, where I found both my sweethearts and my ma. I sat down, my ma putting a plate of bacon and eggs as I did. We ate, my wolves devouring their meat. Then, dad came and made some coffee for himself. Once we were done, we went to the car and drove to my psychologist's office. We went in all together and ma started telling Dr. Golan about her idea before she even took a seat. I handed the doctor the postcard.

"Hmm... Only two years ago. I suppose it's possible she could still be still be alive. Plus, the mother-daughter bonding might be a good idea as of now." she told us with a small smile.

"Right. And I could meet her. Maybe even find out what it was Grandpa wanted me to know. And I could grow closer to my ma once again." I told her, looking at my father to see him nodding. Ma had a small smile on her face.

"Having an opportunity to see this Children's Home and separate fantasy from reality, may be helpful and at the very least a trip like this provides a chance to say goodbye." the psychologist told my parents. They all agreed to my trip to Wales. We then went home and started putting all the bags in the car. The day went fast and before I knew it was already time to board the plane. Before we came out of the car I focused on bringing the wolves in my body, then we went to board the plane. I slept through most of the flight, waking up only when ma shook me awake before the landing. As we got down we went to take the ferry, only having fifteen minutes before it left the port. Before getting on the ferry, I let out the babies, before I tied the foulards around their necks; the blue one around Tikvah's neck and the red one around Jabez's neck. We went on the ferry and sat on one of the benches. The wolves were running around, they were playing tag with each other. Ma and I were reading about Cairnholm on the book that grandpa gave me.

"Cairnholm: population of 92. Best known for its proximity to the final resting place of the cruise liner Augusta which sank in 1915." I read out loud for ma.

"There is only one hotel. That's ours." she told me, reading the book from over my shoulder. I nodded to her, turning the page. "Oh wow! Jake! check it out. That's a peregrine falcon." she told me, pointing at the sky. I looked up and saw a beautiful falcon flying above the ferry. The pups too saw the bird as they came toward us. They had probably finished their game when they saw the bird. Strangely enough, they were both calm. I looked down to them, seeing them lying down at our feet.

"Wait. Peregrine, like the Headmistress?" I asked ma, to which she nodded. "Grandpa used to tell me that Miss Peregrine was able to turn into a bird, that it was her power." I told ma, seeing her eyes spark, like they did every time she saw me use my power.

"Who knows. Maybe that's her?" she said, looking up at the falcon.

"Hey, Miss Peregrine, It's me, Jacky. I am Abe Portman's granddaughter. Please don't crap on us." I shouted at the bird, making ma crack down laughing. I laughed along with her at my childish shout. We arrived at Cairnholm and walked to the hotel. When we entered the hotel, we saw no one. ma started looking around while I sent my pups to sniff around. Ma came to me and we looked at the pictures on the wall. Suddenly, both Jabez and Tikvah started barking, gaining our attention. We turned and found two men, one, older, was on a wheelchair while the other, younger, was behind him.

"Sorry to keep you. Just helping uncle Oggie to the loo." the younger man told ma, before they shook hands. "I'm Kev. There's room upstairs. I'll be back in a bit." the manager told us, starting to go on the stairs.

"Wait!" I called out to him, making him turn to me. "Is it okay for me to have my pets?" I asked him.

"Of course, no problem." he kindly told me, before going upstairs. I let out a sigh in relief.

"While he prepares the room, why don't we go look for the House?" ma asked me, all of sudden.

"Yeah, okay. But, what about the suitcases?" I asked her. She stopped a moment, thinking.

"Leave them with me, I'll make sure my nephew puts them in your room once he's done." the old man in the wheelchair told me. I looked at my mother and she nodded. We let the suitcases with him and went out. We started going to the beach, I followed ma around, the puppies playing with the waves.

"Ma, where are we going?" I asked her, running to catch up with her.

"We are looking for someone who can tell us where the House is." she told me, stopping a bit to let me catch her. I looked at her, a bit weirded out by her attitude. We walked some more, finally finding some teenagers. I kept the wolves near me, as not to frighten them. "Hi guys. Can you tell me where we can find the Children's Home?" ma asked them, causing them to look at each other, smirks on their faces.

"It's on the other side of the island." one of them told us, before continuing with "No one ever goes there. It was destroyed in a German bombing." he finished. I looked at my mother, waiting for her to do something. But the boy wasn't done. "You can take the shortcut: just follow the road" he told us, pointing to the left. I looked there to see a small dirty road. "and then, on your right, you will find woods, just go there and cross the little stream. Then go straight on and you will find it." he told us, the smirk never leaving his face. I frowned, not believing his words. My pups too were watching them with wary eyes.

"Okay, thanks." ma told them, making me look at her with wide eyes. 'She is not going to follow his directions, is she?'

"Ma…" I started, before she turned to me with a small smile and determined eyes. She came to me and my arm, before tugging me in the direction the boy pointed to. I whistled, calling the babies to me. They came running, keeping close to ma and myself. "Are you sure this…" I tried to ask, before being shushed by her.

"Don't worry." she told me, before whispering "We are going in the right direction…". I frowned at her words. 'She probably didn't mean for me to hear them… But why?'

We walked for some time, before ma stopped and turned to the right. I followed her eyes and saw a little stream of water and a line of trees after it. Ma took my hand and we started going into the woods. We crossed the stream by walking on a big log that went from side to side of the stream, with me almost falling into the water once. We came to the tree line and mom took my hand.

"Order them to keep close." she told me, before we started moving. I did as she asked and we soon arrived to a burnt down house. My heart stopped. I felt defeat starting to arise in my chest. I lowered my eyes, with were filling with tears. I then felt the hold on my hand get tighter and looked up, seeing mom's eyes became stony as she started walking, tugging me to follow. We went into the house, looking around. Ma let go of my hand and went to look into what I thought was the living room. I followed my wolves up the stairs, which were a bit ruined but still edible. They went into a room and I followed after them, a bit cautious. The room had a shelf on the side, a table on the other side. I went closer to the shelf and saw many glass containers with what looked like hearts in them. I tried to take a closer look but the floor cracked, so I stayed back.

*THUD*

I turned around, looking for whatever made the noise and saw my puppies with some sort of dolls in their mouths. I saw other dolls on the floor and knew they were the ones that made the noise. I went near them and knelt down. I took the doll out of their mouths and looked at them. They were clay men, not dolls. They kind of reminded me of the old stories grandpa used to tell me. they mostly reminded me of Enoch, the peculiar child with the power of necromancy. I smiled a bit before putting the clay figures down. I stood up and made to get out of the room when my foot bumped into something. I looked down and saw a small doll like figure. I moved away and went out of the room, my sweethearts following after me.

"Ma." I called out to her, hoping to hear an answer.

"I'm in the kitchen." she told me, I tried to follow the direction the voice came from but ended up following my wolves. They brought me to the kitchen and I saw mom looking down at something. I looked and saw an old picture. I went closer but mom the frame down, the picture facing down. She turned to me and took hold of my hand, before taking me out of the house, towards a rock wall. I didn't know what she was searching for but then, I saw her going near the rocks and saw a small crack. It looked big enough for a person to enter. Ma made to enter, but then stopped and turned back. She pushed me away from the wall.

"Ma, what are you doing? What was in there? Ma!" I tried to gain her attention but she kept walking, pushing me in front of her every time I tried to stop. My wolves were following, a bit cautious.

"I just thought I had seen something in there but I was wrong." she told me, once we got back to the hotel. I frowned at her, but she ignored me. She asked Kev, the manager, for our room and he gave her the keys, informing her that our suitcases were already in the room. I followed her and we came to a double room, the beds were big enough for me and the wolves to sleep in all together. We decided to clean up and then we went down to eat. After lunch mom decided to go back to the house. Before going, I went back to our room to change. I then absorbed the wolves, as I felt their fatigue. I kept my eyes down, not wanting anyone to see the changes. When I reached mom, she took hold of my hand once again and we started off in the direction of the house. As we arrived, we separated once again. I went upstairs, while mom went back to the kitchen. I looked around, before I felt eyes on me and a strange smell. Thanks to having the pups inside me, I had better senses. The smell was a mixture of clean air, lavender and surprise.

"Miss Peregrine?" I heard a soft female voice say behind me. I turned and saw a platinum blond girl dressed in a light blue dress. I was scared, I didn't know where she came from nor how she was able to sneak up behind me. I started running to the kitchen, where I knew my mother still was.

"Ma!" I called, as I reached the kitchen. There was no one there, just another peregrine falcon. I turned to it, finding the bird staring at me. It was dark brown, with lighter feathers on its chest, unlike the one ma and I saw flying above the ferry. That one was almost black with a white belly. I turned and started to run toward the exit but, before I could get out, I fell down as my foot got caught in a big crack on the floor. Then everything went black, the last thing I heard was a hawk's cry.

When I woke up, the first thing I felt was a terrible headache. Then I felt my pups in my mind. They were worried and on guard. I then remembered what happened and looked around. I saw the girl from before near the crack in the rock wall mom took me to. On her right side, I saw to children dressed in some white clown-like clothes. On their right, there were moving clothes with no body, them a girl with short, curly brown hair and a grey dress and a girl with red hair and a light pink dress. The falcon from before was on the ground, near me, looking at me with worry in its eyes. 'It can't be, animals don't feel…' I stopped my idiotic thought, as I had two incredibly intelligent wolves inside my head. Then, as I looked at them once again, I remembered the old stories grandpa told me when I was young.

"You're Emma." I said, pointing to the girl on the last girl on the left, the one dressed in light blue. "And the twins." I said, moving my finger in the direction of the two kids dressed like clowns. "And Olive." I kept saying, moving to the red-haired girl, getting a nod and a smile from her. "Bronwyn." pointing to the little girl, causing her to smile at me. "He's Millard." I stated, pointing at the moving clothes. "No, wait. I saw the house. You are dead. All of you. You're all dead. He is... he is invisible. That is... He's still dead." I said, not understanding what was happening.

Emma shook her head, looking at me with eyebrows furrowed. "None of us are dead." she told me.

"Oh my God. Am I dead?" I asked her, feeling my face lose blood.

"No." she assured me with a shake of her head.

I then remembered what she called me in the house. "You called me Miss Peregrine, in the house. Why?" I asked her, curious and confused. She hesitated a bit before answering me.

"You looked like her. Just for a moment. Before you started screaming, running away and concussing yourself." she told me with a shrug. I looked at them all, before turning to the falcon. "Is that Miss Peregrine?" I asked them, pointing at the bird.

"No, we thought she was yours." Olive told me.

"No, she is not mine. Wait, my mom, she was in the kitchen…" I told them. They exchanged confused looks before Emma turned to me once again.

"We only found you." she told me, causing me to frown. 'Where the hell did my mother go?'


	3. Chapter 3

**Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children**

 _ **Chapter 3**_

I stared a bit, before thinking of where my mom could be. 'Maybe she thought I went outside and went to find me.'

I felt something on my right shoulder and turned to see the peregrine falcon there, looking at the others. I too turned and saw them waiting in line, or at least, I thought they were waiting. 'But, waiting for what?'

"Wait, what's happening?" I asked them, confused.

"We are waiting until the coast is clear before we go into the loop." Emma explained to me. As she did, I saw Olive coming to me.

"You never know who might be watching." she gently told me with a small smile, before putting her hands around me and pushed me near Bronwyn.

"Wait, before we... before we go into what?" I asked them, frowning. 'Grandpa wrote about loop but, what the hell is a loop?'

"Please, Jake. Miss Peregrine's waiting. She saw on the ferry and sent us to get you." Emma pleaded me, before entering the crack. Olive gently pushed me in, before taking my left hand in hers and doing the same with Bronwyn's right one. I felt a little pressure, before seeing fog behind me. As we exited, Olive squeezed my hand, before tugging me along. We walked until we reached a house. I took a look at it and couldn't believe my own eyes. 'The House… it's perfect…'

They walked me to the front door, which opened as we arrived. A woman dressed in navy blue came out. She had blue eyes, almost similar to mine, and blueish-black hair, held high in an elaborated hairstyle. She looked at me and smiled.

"Right on time." she said, looking at us. "Miss Peregrine. Delighted to meet you." she told me, offering me her hand, which I promptly shook with a smile of my own. "I do hope I'm not going to have the pub landlord knocking on my door with the police again? I've had to kill them twice this month. It's been terribly inconvenient." she then said to the others. My eyes widened. 'Kill?'

"No, Miss Peregrine. She didn't run to the pub like we thought." Emma reassured her. Miss Peregrine moved out of the way and let them in the house but, before I could enter, she moved in front of me and smiled again, staring at me with an almost faraway look.

"Look at you! The last time dear Abe sent me a photograph, you were a just a tiny poult. Don't you stand there, come in. Your tea is getting cold." she told me, beckoning me inside the house. I followed her to the kitchen, stopping a bit when I saw it in good conditions, unlike the one I saw before. I saw Olive with her hands on a teapot, heating it with her power. "That will be enough, thank you Olive. Nobody enjoys overboiled tea." Miss Peregrine kindly told Olive, making her move her hands away from the teapot to take hold of the handle. She started to pour the tea in the two cups. I then heard movements behind me, thanks to my babies' senses. I turned, curious to see who was there and saw a boy, probably around my age. He had ink black hair and wore a grey sweatshirt. He opened on of the cupboards that were in the hallway, before stopping and turning to me. I startled, not knowing what to do. He had dark brown eyes, though they looked black from here. He frowned at me and turned back to the cupboard. I saw him taking out something before closing the door and moving away. As he turned to go, I saw him holding glass containers in his hands. My eyes widened when I saw the hearts in them. 'Oh my God… That's Enoch!'

"Let me help you with those, Enoch." I heard Olive's voice coming from behind me. He stopped to look at her.

"Don't bother. Wouldn't want you to interrupt the tea party." he said, before glaring at me. I frowned as he went. Before I could say anything, Olive rushed out of the kitchen, probably to go after her brother.

"I'm so sorry for your loss, Jacky." I heard Miss Peregrine say to me. I turned to her, seeing her leaning on the furniture. She had a sad look on her face as she looked at me.

"You know, then?" I asked her, looking down a bit.

"I know if Abe were alive, he would have told me you were coming." she told me, before looking away for a moment. "Shall we take our tea outside?" she suddenly asked me, picking up the cups and handing me one, before she moved to the back door and went out. I followed after her, curious to see this new world with my own eyes.

"Before he died he told me to find you. There was something he wanted me to know. He said you could explain everything." I told her, my question implied in the last phrase. We were walking in the garden, a beautiful one at that. It almost reminded me of my grandma's garden.

"That's absolutely true. There are few things I can't explain. We are in common parlance as Peculiar." she explained to me, stopping on the side of the garden. "51 seconds late, Fiona." she said, taking out a pocket watch and showing it to a girl with brown hair, held in braids behind her head. She was dressed in brown.

"Sorry, Miss Peregrine. How many carrots you need for supper?" Fiona asked. 'She is the one controlling the plants, if I'm not mistaken.'

"Just one will do." Miss Peregrine told Fiona with a smile, before turning back to me. "As I was saying, some people are peculiar. It's a recessive gene carried down through families. Yet, many generations can pass without a peculiar child being born. And alas, peculiars have been persecuted through the ages. Hence, we live in places like this." she explained as I watched Fiona growing a giant carrot in the ground.

"In Wales?" I asked her, focusing back on the conversation.

"Anywhere will do if you pick the right day." she told me, making me frown. 'The right day?'

"That's fine now, Fiona." she said to the girl, who stopped her power and stood up from the ground. "You see. I am a type of peculiar called an Ymbryne. That means I can..." she told me, before I interrupted her.

"You can turn into a bird." I said, looking at her. I saw her eyes flicker a second to the bird that was still on my shoulder, before she answered "Well, I do! Yes. But that's not very useful. An Ymbryne's main skill is the manipulation of time. We chose a safe place, a safe day and create a loop." she told me, making me even more confused.

"What do you mean?" I asked her, hoping she would clear it for me.

"A loop preserves the last 24 hours. Reset the loop and the day is yours to live in again. Reset it daily and you can stay there forever. Entirely safe from the outside world." she told me, her eyes glazing over a bit. She then moved her eyes over my left shoulder, prompting me to turn. I saw Bronwyn running to us, before she went to the giant carrot, close to which Fiona still stood. "Right on time Bronwyn, good girl." Miss Peregrine told her. Bronwyn then took hold of the carrot and started pulling it out of the earth. As she did so, I turned back to the Headmistress. "And that's why we Ymbrynes are charged with the care of the young." she finished her explanation, making me frown.

"And no one ever gets older?" I asked her.

"It's best for everyone this way. I assure you." she said, her voice suddenly cold. I turned to her and saw her eyes distant. She then took my cup of tea, still untouched, and put it on a little table with hers, before she took my arm and led me to another garden. I saw the children here. "Every Ymbryne commits herself to the creation and upkeep of a place like this. A Home for Peculiar Children." she told me, before we reached the twins. "You've met the twins." she told me, before she took the teddy-bear the twins were fighting over and ripped it in half, before giving one half each twin. Then, a little girl dressed in a beautiful pink dress came up behind the twins. She looked like a doll. "This is Claire." Miss Peregrine told me with a smile. 'She is the girl with her mouth on the back of her head.' I thought as we walked on, turning back to see if I could see it. I didn't. "Millard you've met." she told me, as we came to two boys playing soccer. "And that's Hugh." she said, pointing to the other boy. I saw him opening his mouth and bees flying out toward Millard, who stopped to shoo them away. We came up next to them and a boy with blond hair came toward us, after have scolded the other two.

"Good afternoon. I'm Horace." he said, offering me his hand, which I shook. "Delighted to meet you. We sorely needed some new blood here." he said, turning back to the other boys. "Super shirt by the way." he then told me, looking at my black balloon sleeved shirt.

"Thanks." I said, smiling at his honesty. He then moved away, going to sit somewhere else to read his book.

"You know Emma, of course." Miss Peregrine told me, pointing at Emma, who was standing near a tree. "And I think that's everyone." she said with finality. I furrowed my eyebrows.

"Didn't Bronwyn have a brother?" I asked her, as we walked over to Emma.

"Yes, Victor's upstairs." she told me, her eyes becoming a bit distant. She then looked up at Emma with eyebrows furrowed. I saw Emma look startled, staring back and forth at Miss Peregrine and myself. "Wait, where did Enoch and Olive go?" the Headmistress asked Emma, who shook her head a bit and shrugged.

"Heaven knows. Enoch's been off ever since we went to look for Jacky." the girl told her. Miss Peregrine then turned to me.

"Jacky, I've been meaning to ask. Is that brown peregrine falcon yours? She is magnificent." she asked me, looking at said bird. I shook my head, mindful of her.

"No, she isn't. I actually thought she was yours. She has stayed on my shoulder since I woke up." I told Miss Peregrine. Her eyes sparkled and she smiled. "Why?" I wondered.

"She looks incredibly familiar to me. I feel like I have already met her." she told me. I frowned a bit.

"You are talking as if she was a person, and not a bird." I said, seeing her nod to my words. My eyes grew large. "Wait, is she… an Ymbryne?" I asked Miss Peregrine, to which she nodded once again. I turned to the falcon on my shoulder to see her looking to the side. I nodded, letting go of it for the moment.

"Miss Peregrine, can you help me please?" Fiona came running to us. Miss Peregrine nodded, giving me a warm smile before following Fiona. I turned back to Emma, who was staring at me.

"What?" I inquired.

"Nothing. Just… you look like Miss Peregrine." she told me, to which I frowned.

"No, I don't. She is beautiful while I'm just… me." I said. I saw her shook her head but she didn't say anything back. "You know, my middle name is Emma." I told her out of the blue. I saw her eyes widen, before a small smile appeared on her face.

"Would you help me with something. Enoch usually does it but, like I said, he is sulking somewhere." she said, handing me the rope she was keeping on her shoulder. The falcon flew to one of the tree's branches and looked down at me.

"Is that because of me?" I asked her, worried. 'He was my favourite, among the Children of grandpa's stories.'. I also loved his power. I remembered a time, when I was 8 years old and grandma had just died, had just been killed by the monsters more likely, and I wished to be like Enoch, in order to bring grandma back from the dead.

"He is possessive. And incredibly over-protective of his sister." she told me with a small grimace.

"So... What you need help with?" I asked, relaxing a bit.

"One of my daily chores. Put the baby squirrel back in the tree." she told me.

"What baby squirrel?" I asked her. She lifted her left and a little, cute squirrel fell on it. I was astonished. "That happens every day?" I asked in awe.

"Like clockwork. Now, would you mind tying that rope around my waist?" she asked me with a small smile.

"Yeah, of course." I answered, going to tie the rope. It was a bit of a problem as she had the baby squirrel in her hand, but I finally did it.

"Promise to hold on tight?" she asked., causing me to nod. She then started to untie her shoes and I saw her starting to float. I was astonished once again. I had a bit of a problem with the rope, but everything went fine.

"I'm sorry, I messed up." I told her. She smiled at me as she tied her shoes once more.

"Abe did too... the first time. This used to be his job." she told me, taking the tope from me.

"Emma, I need to tell you something." I started, not wanting to keep it a secret.

"He is dead. I know. Miss Peregrine guessed and she's always right. It's okay. I said goodbye to him a long time ago." she interrupted me, her eyes sad.

"Were you close?" I gently asked her.

"I thought we were. For a while. And, since your middle name is Emma, I think we actually were." she told me, with a small smile. I smiled at her, before hugging her, surprising the both of us. After a second, she hugged me back. When we separated, her smile had grown. We then started walking back to the house. "Will you be dining with us?" she asked me as we went.

"I can't stay out late. Plus, I have to find my mom." I told her. She frowned a bit at this.

"Supper's at 5:30." she told me, making me look at her in disbelief.

"Well, that's pretty early." I said with a shrug of my shoulders. I then heard a cry and then a weight on my right shoulder. I turned and saw the falcon Ymbryne looking at me.

"The fact we are not all eight years of olds seems to have eluded Miss Peregrine. You can borrow some of my clothes. My room's in the attic." she told me, making me turn to her and smile in thanks.

" _What I didn't know was that I was being stared at by a boy from one of the higher windows."_

I went with Emma to her room, where she gave me a beautiful light green dress. The falcon flew over the bed, watching us fumble around the room. I was putting it on when she exited the room. I had just finished tying it behind my back when she entered once again. She came to me and gave me two beautiful light green shoes.

"These are from Olive, a little present. Just like my dress, if you would like." Emma told me. I looked at her with wide eyes and tried to speak but she stopped me, saying "If you don't take them, I'll be offended." which made me shallow down my words. I then exited, falcon once again on the shoulder, and went to the bathroom.

"Jacky." I heard someone call me. I looked to the right and saw Olive with a big smile, leaning against a door. "Come meet my brother, properly." she told me, beckoning me into the room. I entered the same room with the glass containers that I saw the first time I came into the burnt down house. There Enoch was, seated at the table. He was busy with a creepy doll like creature.

"Well, you must feel pretty out of place." he told me, not taking his eyes away from the object. I shrugged a bit.

"Don't worry. I am used to it." I told him, looking at Olive for support. She nodded at me, her smile never leaving her face.

"I wasn't worried. I know you are special, that Ymbryne must have taken a like to you." he said, meaning the bird on my shoulder. She gave a cry and moved her wings, before setting down once more. "You don't have to be scared of us. You are one of us, after all. Beautiful crimson eye, by the way." he told me, making me blush a bit and nod. I looked down, opting not to look at him anymore. I saw him working on the doll and went closer to the table.

"What are you doing?" I asked him, curious. I saw him put a heart in the doll, before putting another one in a strange figure. They both started moving, as if they were alive, which they were. I leaned down, not taking my eyes away from them.

"Isn't he amazing?" Olive asked me, voice full of awe.

"It's… wonderful…" I breathed out. I felt eyes on myself and looked up. Enoch was staring at me, attitude no more hostile like it was when I entered. "What more can you do?" I asked him, wanting to know everything about his peculiarity.

"Jacky. This is not even the fun part." he told me, the corners of his lips curving up a bit. "Do you want to see the fun part?" he asked me, raising his eyebrows. I eagerly nodded. He then leaned down to the doll and whispered in his ear. Then, both of the creature started fighting. I heard Olive clap her hands and jump in joy. I looked on, my face full of astonishment. They fought for a bit, before one of them killed the other. I laughed, standing up and clapping my hands. 'Wow, it was awesome!'

"They are like puppets. Just do anything I tell them. It is even more fun with people. You should have seen some of the epic battles I used to have at my parent's exequies parlor." he told me, a smile on his lips as he looked at me. I wanted to stay more, but I really needed the bathroom.

"I have to go but, is it okay if I sit next to you two at dinner?" I shyly asked them, prompting nods from both of them. I then went out and went to the bathroom, before going to the dining room. As I entered, I saw the others already seated, Miss Peregrine being the only one still standing. It was a big table, with Miss Peregrine at the end of the table closest to the door. On her left side were seated, in this order, Emma, Bronwyn, Horace and Fiona. Then there was Enoch on the other end. On his left, there were Olive, Hugh, the twins and then Claire. There were only two free seats: one between Miss Peregrine and Emma, the other between Olive and Enoch. Without thinking twice, I went to sit between Enoch and Olive, who smiled at me, even if Enoch's smile was barely there.

"Millard, go and put some clothes on. Polite persons do not take the sup in the nude!" Miss Peregrine said, before the chair next to her moved and Millard got out of the room. We all started eating before bees started flying on the table.

"Hugh!" Olive told him.

"Where's your net?" Emma gently asked him. He stopped eating, leaning down to take his net, before taking a deep breath. I saw the bees entering his body and I was fascinated by it. I then went back to eat.

"It must be very strange for you Jacky. To meet your grandfather's friends. Visiting another century." Fiona said to me, making me look at her. She was smiling, prompting a smile out of me. I felt Enoch's eyes on me and turned to him, seeing him wink at me. I smiled at him, before Olive turned to me.

"Are there spaceships in your time, Jacky. Like the Flash Gordon books?" she asked me, smiling. I went to answer but before I could, Miss Peregrine talked.

"No! No! Olive, what did I say about asking questions? We don't discuss the future here. We enjoy living in the here and now." she reprimanded Olive, before taking some pieces of meat from her plate. I too gave some pieces of meat at the falcon, who was now on the back of my chair. I saw Olive lowering her head, a sad and disappointed look on her face. I tipped her hand, making her look at me. I nodded and winked at her with a smile. Her eyes sparkled and she nodded back, before going back to eat her dinner, a small smile on her lips. I felt someone tip on my hand and looked to see Enoch. He mouthed 'thank you' at me, nodding in his sister direction. I nodded and mouthed 'you're welcome.' We went back to dinner after that but Miss Peregrine interrupted again.

"Claire, why aren't you eating?" she asked the beautiful doll dressed little girl on her left.

"She's embarrassed in front of Jacky." Hugh said. I turned to her and smiled.

"Don't be, please." I gently told her. 'I don't mind her peculiarity. She looked at me, before turning to Miss Peregrine, who winked at her. Claire smiled and took the meat, bringing it behind her head. I looked and saw her moving her hair out of the way and her other mouth ate the meat in less than a minute. She then looked at me and waited for my reaction. I just smiled at her, hoping to convey the awe I was feeling. By her big smile, I knew I was successful.

"So, Jacky, what is your peculiarity?" Horace asked me. I froze, before looking at Miss Peregrine, asking for her permission to show my power to them. 'I know she knows about my powers, grandpa had probably written about me to her.' I thought, waiting. She nodded at me and I let out a breath. I decided to show them my peculiarity, instead of telling them. I focused and let out another breath. I felt the tattoo tingling, before I heard gasps and yelps. I opened my eyes, not even knowing I had closed them, and looked around. Enoch had a smirk on his face but I could read the surprise in his eyes. Olive was staring at my wolves with wonder and was giggling. Horace was staring at the animals, his jaw on the floor. Fiona was staring in awe. Hugh's mouth was open and his bees were flying all around the room. Claire was smiling at the sight. The twins did nothing except making reptilian sounds. Bronwyn was looking at my babies with curiosity. I don't know what look Millard had on his face, obviously, but he didn't move. Emma was staring with a small smile. Miss Peregrine, on the other hand, looked proudly at me and nodded.

"This is… umh… what I… can do." I told them, a bit shy and unsure. Their eyes moved to me, making me look down, too embarrassed to meet their stares.

"It's magnificent." I heard Enoch say. I looked up at him and saw him looking at me with a smirk and a strange light in his eyes.

"They are perfect, Jacky!" Olive exclaimed from my left, making me turn to her. I felt myself relax a bit at this.

"Jacky, your peculiarity is beautiful." Fiona told me with a smile. I smiled back, blushing ad I did.

"Wow. Just, wow." I heard Hugh say.

"You can say that again…" Millard said to Hugh. My smile widened at their words.

"Can I play with them?" Claire asked me, with hopeful eyes. I nodded at her.

"They are so big." Bronwyn said.

"Jacky. Your peculiarity is one of the most beautiful in the world. There's no need for you to feel ashamed or embarrassed." Emma told me. I smiled and nodded, my head held high. Miss Peregrine went to say something but we heard a phone ring. She stopped, before standing up.

"I think you should all get ready for movie-time while I answer that." she told us, before starting to move toward the door.

"But you always let us stay for it." Claire told her, making her stop for a moment, before she exited the door. I looked at the others, not knowing what to do.

"Come on, Jacky. Why don't you come with Olive and me to see another fight between my puppets?" Enoch asked me, standing up and offering me his hand. I nodded and took his hand, standing up. He gently tugged me toward the door, Olive following behind us, taking my free hand in hers on the while. My sweethearts followed after us. We reached his room, where he gave life to three puppets this time. In the end, only one survived.

"Oh, look at the time. We should go to the sitting room; the others will be already there." Olive told us, standing up from her chairs. I absorbed my babies once again, as I had started to feel alone. 'Maybe this is why grandma never let them out.'

We stood and went to the sitting room. I saw the falcon on one of the sofas. I had seen her fly away during dinner, nut didn't know where she went. I sat near her, one the sofas on the right side. It was made of leather and black. Enoch sat next to me. Olive went to sit on the other sofa, after starting the fire in the hearth. she sat on one end, Emma sitting on the other one. Between them, Bronwyn and Claire sat, both in their nightgowns. Horace was in an armchair, while Fiona, Hugh and the twins were sitting on the ground, all of them in pyjamas. Millar came in and gave each one a cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows. He was naked, again.

"Yours has extra marshmallows, Jacky." he told me, and he handed me my cup.

"Millard, put some pyjamas on." Emma reprimanded him.

"It is too hot in here." he complained.

"Stop moaning." Horace told him.

"Excuse me." Millard said, before I saw the sofa on which Enoch and I were sitting dip on the other end. Enoch moved a bit next to me, not wanting to be touched by Millard's naked body. Miss Peregrine then came in and Horace started projecting his dreams.

"My grandpa told me about this. Horace projects his dreams, right?" I asked Enoch, leaning in a bit. He turned and leaned in too before answering.

"He used to listen to the radio. Gets tedious when you know every word off by heart." he told me, rolling his eyes at the last part. I nodded and leaned back on the sofa. The dream started off with Horace in a clothes' shop. He was looking at himself in a mirror. He was wearing a beautiful smocking. Then the dream changed and I saw myself talking with Miss Peregrine in the garden.

"When did he dream this?" I asked Enoch.

"Last night. Some of his dreams are prophetic." he explained to me. I nodded and went back to look at the dream. The dream changed and we saw some people sitting in a circular room. Then an elder woman was forcefully brought into said room, before the door closed.

"An Ymbryne. Who is she? Miss Peregrine, do you know her?" Fiona asked, turning to the Headmistress.

"Don't be silly. Horace was just having a bad dream. That's all." Hugh told her.

The dream changed once again. It showed a monster, which made the others gasps in fright. I froze, before I felt something on my hand. I looked down and saw Enoch's hand squeezing mine. I squeezed back, relaxing a bit. I turned to the dream and saw myself on the roof of the house, the monster in front of me. I had a crossbow in my hands. The dream-me threw the crossbow away from the roof before doing something impossible. I was shocked. The dream-me turned into a black peregrine falcon and flew away from the roof. I looked at Miss Peregrine and she was already looking at me, surprise and shock in her eyes. I couldn't say anything as the dream changed once again. I saw Enoch on what looked like an old ship. He was looking up at the sky with a big smile and loving eyes. The point of view moved and I saw myself in bird form, flying in the sky with two other falcons: one brown, the same one resting on the arm of the sofa, the other one blue. The bird-me came down and turned back human. She went to dream-Enoch and hugged him, before he moved back and kissed her. It was not a caste kiss. It was a lover one. I was red in the face. 'Oh God, is it possible?' I thought, looking around. I turned to Enoch to see him red too, his eyes never leaving the projection.

" _Had I taken a closer look, I would have seen a little smirk on his face and determination in his eyes."_

I then turned to Miss Peregrine to see her eyes dark. "That's quite enough. Thank you, Horace." she said, gaining many complaints from the others. I was too embarrassed to look at them, so I just turned to Miss Peregrine and said "I think probably get going.".

"You could stay the night. If you wanted to." Miss Peregrine told me, eyes kind once again.

"Rather than walk home alone in the dark." Olive said, smiling a bit.

"But the island is very safe, isn't it?" Enoch said, looking at Miss Peregrine.

"Of course. I only meant the path is dreadfully bumpy. Jacky could trip. Perhaps you could show her the shortcut. Should she ever need to avoid... bumps." Miss Peregrine answered him. There was small glint in her eyes and a little smile on her face.

"Won't you stay to see the restart, Jacky? It is really quite spectacular." Olive excitedly asked me. Before I could even answer, the others started approving of the idea. Enoch took my hand and we both got to our feet. The bird flew to my left shoulder. We then followed Miss Peregrine out of the house, where she handed out gas masks. We stood together, with Enoch and Olive on either side of me. Miss Peregrine then started the gramophone and put on her mask. We all did the same, before I heard the noises of airplanes flying. I looked t at the sky and saw Nazis airplanes flying above the house. The last one dropped the famous bomb. As it fell toward the house, I unconsciously took Enoch's hand. He squeezed my hand in reassurance. Before the bomb could touch the ground, it stopped and went back into the airplane. The others planed too flew backwards and the sky became light. The sun set and rose, before it became night again. We then removed out masks and went inside.

"So, how do you feel?" Emma kindly asked me, as we went into her room, where I could change back into my clothes. The falcon flew over to the bed, waiting for me to be done and then flew back on my shoulder.

"It was beautiful." I told her with a smile. We then went downstairs and saw the others there. They hugged me, with Olive kissing my cheek and Miss Peregrine kissing my forehead. Enoch then took my hand and tugged me to the entrance of the loop.

"Why didn't you tell us you were an Ymbryne?" Enoch suddenly asked me. He stopped walking and turned back to me, his hand still in mine.

"I didn't know, wait, how can I be an Ymbryne?" I asked him back, wanting to know. He stared at my face, probably trying to see if I was lying or not.

"An Ymbryne, one that can turn into a falcon, has a distinctive characteristic. She has a thin line around her eyes, of the same colour of the feathers." he explained. My eyes widened at that.

"Would the line disappear if washed with soap and water?" I asked him. He frowned, hearing the anxiety in my voice.

"No, it's permanent. The line is embedded into the skin, it can't be washed out." Enoch told me. "Why?" he inquired.

"My mom…" I told him. He frowned, shaking his head. "She has a brown line around her eyes. I always thought it was makeup, but it didn't get ruined by her tears, nor by water." I told him, seeing his eyes widen in understanding. They moved to the falcon on my shoulder and got even more wide. I too looked at it. It flew away and turned back to human. I felt my eyes widen in shock and my mouth open agape. "Ma… What? How? Why did you never tell me?" I asked her, feeling my breath getting faster. Enoch came near me and hugged me, bringing me close to him and patting my back.

"Jacky, deep breaths. Calm down, love. It's alright. Shh." he whispered in my ear, kissing it once or twice. I calmed down a bit, looking at my mom.

"I'm sorry. I didn't want to tell you. I was hoping you weren't like me." she told me, her eyes full of tears. "I didn't want you in the middle of anything." she told me, moving closer to me. I looked at her, before Enoch released me. I threw myself at her, hugging her close. We finally calmed down, before mom looked at Enoch. "You would be perfect for her." she told him, a small smile on her face, even if her eyes were still wet. He gaped for a minute, shocking me. I never saw Enoch like this. He then smiled at her, before nodding.

"Thanks." he told her, before he moved near me. He hugged me, kissing my cheek before moving away. "I'll see you tomorrow." he told me, before going back to the House. Mom and I went back to the 2016, going back to the hotel. On the way there, she explained me a few things, like why I was not an Ymbryne. Apparently, my power over the wolves had blocked it, until I became strong enough. We arrived at the pub and went to our room. We changed and went to sleep, after I let my babies out once more. After all, it had been a tiring day.


	4. Chapter 4

**Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children**

 _ **Chapter 4**_

When I woke up the next morning, mom was already dressed. She was reading the postcard of Miss Peregrine and has another letter in her hand. After I changed and washed, she handed me the letter without words. I started reading the letter.

 _~ Dearest Peregrine:_

 _I don't wish to alarm you... but one of my informants sent me this. It would appear that some of Mr. Barron's group were in Blackpool, England. If I recall, Miss Avocet has a loop there. Please warn her and suggest that she makes a new one right away. Well hidden. And take the greatest care yourself._

 _With Love, Abe._

 _January 2016. ~_

When I was finished, I looked up at mom. She was looking at me with worried eyes. I thought back at what I had just read.

"Ma, who is Mr. Barron?" I asked her. She stayed silent for a moment, before looking down at the postcard. I waited, seeing her sigh, before she looked back at me.

"Your grandmother would be the most indicated to explain you everything." she told me, her voice low. My eyes widened, not understanding what she meant.

"Wha… My grandmoth… Ma, you know grandma died." I told her. 'How could she forget?'

"Not Autumn. I meant my mother." she told me, lowering her eyes once again. I stood there, not knowing what to say.

"Your… mother?" I asked her, trying to make sense of what she just said.

"Jacky, please, don't hate me for not telling you this before. I didn't want you to know, but I pretended to be normal for too long." she told me, making me even more confused. "I am an Ymbryne, that is true. But I was born like this, like all Ymbrynes are. The thing is that, for an Ymbryne to be born, she has to be birthed by another Ymbryne." she explained, causing me to gape at her. "Every Ymbryne is a different bird and, like her, all the daughters she will have will be the same birds as her. My maiden name is Maryann Alma Peregrine. I was born in Cairnholm, Wales, in the loop." she told me, which left me with no words. I kept silent, not knowing what to say to that. "Please, don't hate me." she begged me, her eyes filling with unshed tears.

"I-I'm not going to hate you. You're my mom." I told her, speaking the truth. 'Just because she hid her past from me, doesn't mean she doesn't love me.'

"Oh sweetie." she said, standing up to hug me. I hugged her back.

"Wait, so, Miss Peregrine is my grandmother?" I asked her, to which she nodded. We decided to go back to the loop, I absorbed my pups once again, feeling more alone than ever, without them. We arrived to the loop, before mom stopped just outside of the crack. I looked back at her, not understanding why she had stopped. She had a scared look on her face. "Ma, what's wrong?" I asked her.

"Jacky, baby. I-I… I haven't seen my mother since I was sixteen." she told me, her voice trembling.

"Ma…" I tried to say, before she interrupted me.

"I wanted to grow up, to have a family. I didn't want to be a teenager for the rest of my life. I fought with mum, and went away. I then went to look for your grandfather, having heard many stories about him from Emma. When I met him, he welcomed me in his family and, after some time, I fell in love with his son, your father. But I never went back to the loop." she explained me, tears falling from her eyes. I hugged her, wanting to give her some comfort.

"Ma, it will be alright." I told her, moving away but keeping my hands on her shoulders. "You're not alone. We'll go together." I said, smiling at her. She nodded and dried her cheeks, before giving me a small smile. I took her hand and we entered the loop. We then walked to the house and I knocked. The door opened and Bronwyn was there.

"Jake, you're back! Come and play!" she said, smiling and lifting me up, spinning me around a bit, before putting me on the ground. "Who is she?" she then asked, looking at my mother.

"Hello, Wyn." mom told her, smiling. I saw Bronwyn's eyes widen before a big smile appeared on her face.

"Annie!" she exclaimed, lifting her up as she did with me. As she put mom down, mom knelt down and hugged her. Once they separated, Bronwyn moved to let us enter the house. I saw Emma near the stairs, looking at us with wide eyes.

"Little Ann?" she asked, taking a step toward us. Mom nodded, standing up. Emma ran up to her and hugged her, shedding some tears as she did. "I missed you so much, baby girl. Oh my, you are a woman now! And you have a daughter! Wait, that was you! The falcon!" she said, moving back to look at my mother, who nodded at her words.

"I'm sorry, Em." mom said. Emma shook her head and smiled.

"There's nothing you have to feel sorry about. You did what your heart asked you to do." Emma told her, before hugging her once more. She then took Bronwyn's hand and they went upstairs, probably to spread the voice. Before they went, Bronwyn turned and said "If you're looking for Miss Peregrine, she is in the kitchen.". I took mom's hand and pulled her to the kitchen, where Miss Peregrine was seated. In her arms, a little bird was being fed.

"Is she an Ymbryne?" I asked her, making her look at me.

"Jacky, you're back. How wonderful!" she said, smiling at me. "Yes, she is the Ymbryne Horace saw in his dream. Enoch found her as he was coming back last night." she explained me, looking down at said Ymbryne.

"How is she?" I asked her, curious and a bit worried.

"This is Miss Avocet. Her loop is in Blackpool, England." she explained me.

"Wait. Miss Avocet?" I asked, to which she nodded. "Grandma was in her loop." I told her. She furrowed her eyebrows. "My mother was Autumn." I said.

"Autumn Denveport?" she asked me. I nodded. "I see. That's why your peculiarity looked so familiar." she told me, a smile on her face.

I nodded, before looking at mom. She stood frozen by the door.

"Miss Peregrine, I would like you to meet my mom." I told her, causing her to move her eyes to my mom. I saw them widen, the smile disappearing from her face.

"Mary?" she asked. Mom nodded.

"Hi, mum." she said, before looking down. Miss Peregrine handed me the Ymbryne and went close to mom. She raised her hand, making mom step back and close her eyes tight. Instead of slapping her, like mom probably thought she would, she caressed her face. Mom opened her eyes and looked at Miss Peregrine.

"My baby, my poult." she whispered, before hugging mom to her. I saw mom close her eyes and hug her back. She had tears running down her cheeks. "I'm so happy to see you alive." I heard Miss Peregrine say.

"Mum, I'm sorry. I should have come back, or at least written to you. That way you would have known I was safe." mom told her, as they separated. "I stayed with Abe." she told Miss Peregrine, as an explanation. Both of the women then turned to me. Mom then turned to Miss Peregrine once again. "Mum, we need to tell her everything." she said, making Miss Peregrine turn to her. Her eyes were dark.

"No. An Ymbryne's duty is to protect children, especially my granddaughter." she said, taking Miss Avocet from me and going out. Mum ran after her, leaving me alone in the kitchen. I went into the hallway, seeing Olive and Enoch there.

"Enoch, Olive." I said, smiling at them. Olive smiled and hugged me, before moving away and letting Enoch come close to me. He smiled and hugged me, kissing my temple. I hugged him back and kissed his cheek.

"Did you hear my mother?" I asked them, once Enoch and I separated. They both nodded. "Do you know what she was talking about?" I asked. Enoch nodded, sharing a look with his sister.

"It been Miss Peregrine's rules not to scare you off with the old stories." Enoch told me, his smile disappearing. I frowned. 'What old stories?'

"My grandpa told me stories about monsters with long arms, no eyes and tentacles coming out of their mouths." I told them, making their eyes widen.

"Those are the stories." Enoch told me, before taking my hand and tugging me along. "Come on now, I want you to meet Victor, or what is left of him." he told me, going to the stairs. We went in the only room I didn't see. Olive was following after us, trying to stop Enoch.

"Enoch, don't do this!" she begged her brother, but he didn't stop. We came to the door but, before Enoch could open it, Olive put herself between them.

"Move, Olive." he told her. She looked at him, hr eyes angry.

"If you're going to be like that, then I don't want to be your friend anymore." she told him, walking away. I then saw Fiona coming to us.

"Enoch! Leave Victor alone. It really upsets Bronwyn." she told Enoch, anger in her voice.

"Stop fussing, Fiona. Don't you think Jacky should know the truth?" he asked her, eyes dark.

"He's trying to frighten you away, Jacky. Come and play with us instead." she told me, a smile on her face. Enoch looked at me, his eyes cold.

"I'd quite like to meet Victor." I told her, a small smile on my face. Enoch smirked, patting Fiona on the head, before tugging me into the room. Inside the room, there was a bed with white sheets, a white veil covering it. We got near the bed, where I saw a boy lying down on it. I went closer and recognized him as Victor. He was pale, dark shadows under his eyes.

"This is Victor, Bronwyn's older brother. He was my best friend, the only one, beside Olive and Miss Peregrine and your mother, to not be weirded out by my peculiarity." he told me, looking down at Victor. "He was killed by one of those monsters. His eyes were ripped out and eaten." he said, his watering eyes moving to me. I gasped, before hugging him. He hugged back, before moving back a bit to look at Victor's body once more. "This is what those monsters do, they kill the Peculiar to eat their eyes." I explained to me, making me look at Victor's body. I felt tears in my eyes, but I pushed them back. I turned to Enoch and dried his tears. "Come on, we need to get down." he told me, taking my hand once again and pulling me out of the room. I descended the stairs to see Miss Peregrine and my mother there with all the other children.

"Ah, there you two are. It's time for our daily walk." Miss Peregrine told us, smiling and beckoning us out of the house. Enoch didn't let go of my hand. Olive came up to my other side and looked at me with worried eyes.

"You are not going to run away now, are you?" she asked me, her voice low. I shook my head and smiled at her. She relaxed and looked at Enoch. "Sorry." she said. He smiled at her and nodded. I saw Claire taking Olive's hand and tugging her forward. I looked at Emma, who was walking with Bronwyn. I then looked back to Enoch, who was looking at me.

"Enoch, the people with the white eyes. Where they responsible for Victor's death?" I asked him, see his eyes widen.

"Why do you ask?" he asked me.

"I saw one the night my grandpa died. A man." I told him, making him stop.

"If it really was one, you have to tell Miss Peregrine. Could you recognize him from a photograph?" he asked me, looking at me.

"Do you have one?" I asked back.

"I don't, but Emma does." he told me, tugging me forwards. We reached Emma, stopping her. "Emma, can you bring Jacky to your secret hideout?" he asked her, making her eyes go wide.

"Why?" she asked, looking between the two of us.

"She saw a man with white eyes the day Abraham died." he told her. Her head whipped to me. I nodded.

"Okay, come on." she said, taking my hand and bringing me to the beach. We undressed until we were in our underwear and we jumped into the sea. I saw that my tattoo of the pups wasn't there anymore and I got scared. I then saw two identical tattoos on the inside of my forearms. There were two identical wolves' faces. One was blue-white, the other black. I let out a sigh in relief. As we swam deeper down, Emma turned to me and blew some air in my direction. The bubble of air came to me and I was finally able to breathe again. We came to a ship. I remembered the cruise that sank into the sea near Cairnholm. We went in, and Emma started to blow air. She was able to make the water leave the room. We finally breathed again with no problem and she walked to the table. "Welcome to my secret hideout." she told me, smiling.

"How? How did you..." I tried to ask, eyes wide with awe.

"Air. My peculiarity. It does what I want. Jacky. Before your grandfather retired, he asked me to keep this safe." she said, taking out a metal chest. She gave it to me and I opened it. I found a map inside, with many points on it.

"This is my grandpa's old map." I told her. She nodded at my words.

"It shows you where the loops are." she explained, before taking out some old photos. I saw one of a man with dark skin and white eyes.

"That's him, that's the man I saw. Who is he?" I asked her, pointing at the photo while putting the map inside the chest.

"That's Barron. He is the Leader." she told me.

"Leader of what? Who are these people?" I asked her.

"Bad people... bad peculiars. Abe dedicated his life to hunting them down. These are the ones he never found." she explained me, putting a hand on my shoulder.

"What do you mean 'hunting'?" I asked he, confused.

"They raided loops. Whole homes full of children left for dead. Abe took lives to save lives. He only retired when you were born to protect you." she told me, eyes kind.

"From what?" I asked her, trying to understand.

"Jacky, your grandfather wanted to protect you from the horror those monsters did." she explained me. "You are like him, and that's why he told you those stories. He probably told you what kind of monsters they were." she said, causing me to nod. "He told you so that you could recognize them. Come with me." she told me, taking the chest and putting it away. We then left the room and then the ship. Once we arrived on the beach we redressed and went back to the house. Emma blew air at the both of us to dry us. Enoch was there, waiting for us. He took my hand and we all walked to a hedge wall. We climbed on it and looked on. I saw Miss Peregrine walking to the water, a crossbow in her hand. Mom was standing behind her, a dagger in her hand. I watched as my monster came out of the water.

"Ymbrynes usually pick the perfect date to create a loop. But Miss Peregrine had to do this in a rush." Emma explained me.

"September the 3rd, 1943 wasn't perfect. The thing that killed Victor came back." Enoch told me, nodding to the monster.

"Wait, watch out!" I tried to warn Miss Peregrine, before the others stopped me.

"You can see it, can't you? No one else can. It's invisible, Jacky. That was Abe's greatest gift of all. He could see the monsters." Emma told me, looking at me with a small smile. I turned back and saw Miss Peregrine shoot an arrow at the monster, hitting it in the head. He fell down, dead. Mom and Miss Peregrine then came back. We climbed down and Enoch took my hand, tugging me to the house. We entered the living room and waited for mom and Miss Peregrine to come. Once they did we all took seats. Enoch and I were seating on a sofa, Miss Peregrine on my right side, Enoch on the other. Emma was seated on the armrest of the couch, near Miss Peregrine. Mom was seated on the table in front of us.

"We call them 'Holocaust'. Hollows for short." the Headmistress started.

"My grandpa told me about people who turn into monsters. Is that what they are?" I asked her.

"I will explain everything, Jacky. I fear it's my duty now considering... But you should know that in doing so I'm breaking a solemn promise." she told me, looking at me with serious eyes. I nodded at her. "I knew you were peculiar when you were born. But your grandfather forbade me to tell you anything. His dearest wish was for you to have an ordinary childhood." she said.

"Well I definitely had that." I told her, nodding.

"He intended to tell you the truth when you turned 18. He hoped his bed-time stories would pave the way. Here's my book." she said, as Emma handed her a thick book.

"Many years ago, a splinter faction emerged among our people disaffected peculiars tired of living in loops." she started her explanation, I turned to a page where I saw a picture of a group of people, Mr. Barron among them.

"That's... That's Mr. Barron." I said, looking up at them. Mom nodded at me, face sombre.

"He believed that by harnessing the essence of an Ymbryne's powers, he and his cronies could gain immortality and be able to live outside loops. He devised an experiment. He kidnapped an Ymbryne not knowing or caring whether she would survive at the experiment. But the fate of Barron and his group was more horrifying still." Miss Peregrine explained to me, turning the pages as she did.

"Why didn't Barron turn into one?" I asked her, frowning.

"He did. But years later he found a way to reverse the effects... to regain humanity. They had become not immortal gods but Hollows. Invisible beasts. Dangerous, cold-blooded, deadly! Remember I told you they raided loops? This is why. Barron discovered that by consuming the eyes of other peculiars... Especially children. He began to change. Consume enough, and a hollow can fully regain its human form." she went on explaining. I gasped, before feeling a hand on mine, I looked down and saw Enoch squeezing my hand. I squeezed back, before turning back to Miss Peregrine. "Just as Barron and some of his friends did." she finished, taking the book and closing it shut.

"The rest of them are stuck as Hollows." my mom told me, making me look at her.

"Are you saying that Barron ate my grandp..." I started to say, before mom interrupted me.

"He needs no more eyes himself, but I fear he led a Hollow to your grandfather, yes." she told me.

"After the first attacks on loops, we all got better at hiding making new loops... keeping our whereabouts secret. The Hollows grow more desperate every year and Barron wishes to help his friends." Miss Peregrine told me. I looked at her, my eyes wide and scared.

"Miss Peregrine! Come quickly! Miss Avocet's awake." Olive said, running into the room. We all stood up and followed her. Enoch never let go of my hand. We arrived and she was seated on a couch, the children around her, and she was telling them what she saw. She was trembling. 'So, this was grandma's Headmistress…'

"Oh, Miss Peregrine! They found my new loop. The children... I tried to save them but there were so many Hollows... I don't know how I escaped." she said, as Miss Peregrine sat next to her and hugger her.

"You are safe now." she told her, trying to reassure her.

"None of us are safe." miss Avocet told her, moving back. "They set up the machine in my loop. They put it in the cellar at Blackpool Tower. They're still there..." she told our Headmistress.

"The machine?" Miss Peregrine asked, frowning.

"The experiment. They intend to do it again!" Miss Avocet explained.

"This time, he's using more Ymbrynes. He still wants to be immortal." Olive said.

"Do Hollows only attack peculiars?" I asked them.

"Of course not! They're monsters, sweetie, they'll slaughter anything in their path." Miss Peregrine told me as she stood up. I widened my eyes at what she called me, before continuing.

"While we were walking here, I saw some sheep on the island. They were killed." I told them, making mom come near me and putting her hands on my shoulders. Enoch squeezed my hand. Miss Peregrine turned to me, eyes full of worry. "You don't think they're here already, do you?" I asked them.

"Have you seen anyone with white eyes?" Miss Avocet asked me. I shook my head, mom doing the same.

"I'm sorry children, we can't remain here." Miss Peregrine told us, shocking the children. "We leave on the first ferry, off the island tomorrow. Pack anything of importance. And eat your sandwiches and lead you to bed." she continued. Questions raised from the children as they followed her out.

"Ma, what will we do?" I asked her, turning to her. Enoch too moved closer to us.

"We will stay with your grandmother." she told me, before we too went out. Enoch went to his room to pack while mom and I went to look my Miss Peregrine. We found her in the kitchen. "Mum, we have to go back to the hotel and pack." Mom told her, making her turn to us. She nodded, before coming to us. She hugged mom, before she came to me and did the same. I hugged her back.

"Be safe, both of you." she told us, moving back.

"We will, Miss Peregrine." I told her.

"Granny, sweetie. I'm your grandmother, after all." she told me with a smile. Mom then took my hand and we exited from the loop. As we were going to the hotel, we saw many people on the beach. I went down to see what was going on, but stayed a bit far away. We saw a body on a rock. Mom moved back and hid, before a beautiful brown peregrine falcon flew out. She flew a bit, before she came down and hid once again. She turned and came to me, taking my hand and tugging me away.

"Ma, what?" I asked her, as she kept tugging me away.

"That's the hotel's manager's uncle. His eyes were eaten. We need to go, now!" she told me, making me follow her back to the loop. "Come on, poult, run!" she told me, as we came to the crack.

" _What we didn't know, was that we were being followed."_

We entered, before we heard someone else in the loop.

"Hello! Hello!" a male voice called out to us.

"You came through? You're peculiar?" I asked, moving to take a look closer.

"Oh yes, and I'm extremely grateful to you. It's terribly hard... to find loops these days." he told me.

"So, you followed us from the beach on purpose?" I asked him.

"Oh no. I've been following you much further than that!" he said, before the shadows obscured his form.

"Dr. Golan?" I heard mom ask, once the man came out of the shadows as my psychologist.

"Sometimes... when it suits me... The breadth of my peculiarity is purely limited by my imagination. The only thing I can't change... is my eyes." she said, taking out contact lenses. We saw her eyes white, under the lenses. 'They must have been coloured lenses.'

She then moved in the shadows once again, before I saw the same black skinned man from the photos.

"Mr. Barron, how do you do? I saw you, at your grandfather's. I was hoping to get Miss Peregrine's address from him, but alas my travelling companion got to him before I did. and as you know, there's just no stopping a hungry Holocaust." he told us, mobbing closer to me and chuckling. Mom got angry and moved to attack him, but he raised his hand, which was now a blade, to my neck. She froze, looking at me with wide eyes. "Speaking of my travelling companions... They're coming. And believe me when I say to you, you don't want to be here when they arrive." he said, looking at my mother, before turning to me, then back at my mother. "An Ymbryne, and her not-so-Ymbryne daughter." he smiled. He then turned to me and said "So, let's be on our way... shall we? My dear," before turning to mom. "why don't you show us the way?" he asked her. She hesitated, before he moved the blade close to my neck, touching the skin and causing me a small cut on the side of my neck. Her eyes widened, before she turned and started moving, glancing back at us every now and then. I tried to be strong, not wanting Mr. Barron to see my fear and trying to reassure mom I was alright.

We were close to the house. I tried to move, to stop him in some way, but he put a hand on my shoulder and brought the blade even more closer, widening the little cut to a little wound, it was not life-threatening but it still bled. I could feel my clothes getting wet with blood and mom gasp. I shook my head at her as much as I could when I saw anger in her eyes. She turned back and knocked on the door. Granny opened the door, her eyes widening as she saw my clothes and the man behind me. I saw Emma near the stairs, the others standing on the steps.

"Miss Peregrine, what a pleasure to meet you, at last! May we come in?" Mr. Barron asked from behind me. She moved away letting us enter. Mom went near her, her eyes never leaving my face. "Children, would you make your way down the stairs please?" he then asked the children. They started to get down, but granny stopped them, angry.

"I give the orders in this house, Mr. Barron!" she told him, glaring. Mom too was glaring at him, hate filling her eyes.

"Not today. You should know that Jacky has served her purpose. If you value her life" he stopped to bring the blade across my neck, widening the wound and causing even more blood to flow out. "I suggest everyone does as they are told! Children!" he snapped at them, before granny interrupted him.

"Shush! No one tells my children what to do." she told him, before turning to the children and telling them in a kind voice "Children, come down here, please."

"Miss Peregrine..." Mr. Barron tried to say, before startling when granny snapped "I thought I told you to be quiet!". The little movement made the blade press even more on my already wounded skin. I gasped out in pain, the strength of my pups finally fading to let me feel the pain the wound caused.

"Children, for Jacky's safety, we are going to do what Mr. Barron asks. He wishes to take me and my daughter" granny said, nodding to mom "with him to his rendezvous in Blackpool. So, for his protection, he would like us to assume bird-form, preferably caged... And he'd like you to make your way into a lockable room, such as the parlor. As he won't relieve Jacky if he fears an attack could be mounted upon him once he loses his leverage. Correct, Mr. Barron?" she explained the children, turning back to Mr. Barron at the last phrase.

"You are sacrificing yourself and all of us... when we could try to kill him instead?" Enoch asked granny while both he and his sister glared at Mr. Barron.

"Mr. Barron travels with two Hollows, Enoch. Once it arrives here, we're all dead." mom told him, urgency in her voice. They all started walking to the entrance of the parlour, careful not to go near Mr. Barron as they did. They waved at mom on the way. Olive looked at me, her eyes wet, before going into the parlour with Claire. Enoch stopped, taking granny's hand, before glaring at Mr. Barron. He then looked at me and I could see the worry in his eyes. He then entered, followed by Emma and the twins. She hugged granny, the twins hugging them on the sides. Granny smiled at them, and went to close the door, once Emma too entered.

"It's been my privilege to care for you all. Goodbye, my children." she told them, crying. She then closed the door and turned to us. "Now, let her go." she ordered Mr. Barron. He let me go, mobbing closer to a cage I hadn't seen before. I brought my hands to my neck, trying to stop the blood. Mom came and hugged me, kissing my temple repeatedly. She then moved away and granny came to hug me. She then moved back and took a blue foulard out of one of her pockets. She tied it around my neck, tight enough to act as a bandage, but not too tight as to hurt me. She then raised her hands and cupped my cheeks. "Promise me one thing, Jacky. That you will try to look after them all." she begged me, her eyes full of tears.

"I promise." I told her, nodding. She then walked backwards, mom following after her, and they both turned into peregrine falcons, mom was brown and granny dark blue. They flew a bit, before entering the cage. Mr. Barron closed it. He smirked at me and roughly took me by the shoulder and dragged me to the closed door. He opened it ad threw me in. I fell in Enoch's arms, which were held wide. I turned to Mr. Barron as he went out, scaring the children as he did. I turned to the others, mindful of Miss Avocet's presence near Olive. "It's getting dark. You won't even be able to see their shadows. We have to stay inside. It's the only place we stand a chance." I told them. Enoch nodded at my words from my right side.

"She's quite right. Now, where does Miss Peregrine keep her weapon?" the elder Ymbryne asked.

"In there. Let's go." Enoch told us, pointing at the living room. Him, Emma and myself went there to take the weapons. As we were taking them, the phone rang. We all stopped, before Emma looked at me.

"Jacky, I think tonight you better answer that." she told me, taking a weapon from my hands. I nodded and went to answer. As I did, I saw granny's crossbow and arrows near the phone. I took the phone and brought it to my ear. "Hello?" I asked.

"Hello. This is Abe. Who is that?" a familiar voice asked me. My heart stopped and my hands shook. 'Grandpa…'

"You... you don't know me. I'm Jacky." I told him, my voice breaking.

"Ah! You're new. Well, welcome to the family Jacky. Now I can't talk long, so just tell Miss Peregrine that I'm at the airbase, and I'm fine." he told me, his voice kind and warm.

"I just wanted to say that, I miss you and if I disappointed you, I'm sorry... and you're the best grandpa in the world." I told him, tearing up a bit, before ending the call and taking the crossbow and arrows. I went back to the others in the parlour.

"Miss Avocet!" I called put to her, throwing her the crossbow. She caught is and turned to us all. Enoch handed me a dagger, keeping close to me. We were standing in line, like little soldiers.

"Now, children, now that you are all here, there's a few rules. Your primary job is to stay safe. Leave the Hollow to me. I don't want to see any heroics. Now, those of you with garden tools, I must insist that you..." Miss Avocet told us, before tentacles got her and pulled her back, breaking the wood shutter and the window. I didn't even have time to warn her. I saw the crossbow lying on the ground and gave the dagger back to Enoch, before I threw myself over to take the crossbow. I aimed it at the hole on the shutter and saw a Hollow, one of the two, eating Miss Avocet's eyes. He, from the clothes I could tell it was male, came in and opened his fanged mouth to us. His tentacles came out and I moved back. I couldn't aim at him from the ground as he was tall and the table over me stopped my view. Enoch charged at him, weapon raised.

"No, Enoch! Get back!" I screamed. He looked back at me and the Hollow used his tentacles to pick him up. He then threw him at the walls, making it difficult for me to take aim. "Go! Get to the attic." I ordered the others. Emma and Olive started helping the children as Bronwyn opened the door. They all ran, except for Olive. She stayed behind and came closer to me. The Hollow stopped moving Enoch, tightening his tentacles around Enoch's middle. Two of his tentacles then came forward, moving close to Enoch's eyes. Before they could reach him, I shoot an arrow with the crossbow, hitting the Hollow in the head. He fell down, releasing Enoch. Olive and I moved to help him up and we ran to the attic. As we did, I saw the other enter from the hole and look at his companion. This one was dressed as a woman, meaning it was a she. I ran as fast as I could. I closed the door to the attic's stairs and locked it behind me. I then run to the attic and locked the door there too. Enoch hugged me as soon as soon as he saw me. I hugged him back, before he moved away and Olive took his place. Then Emma came and, after hugging me, she caressed my neck, her eyes worried. I knew we didn't have much time before the other reached us.

"Okay, guys. The other one has come in too. We need to hurry." I told them, going to one of the windows.

"It's almost reset." Emma said, looking at her wristwatch. I opened the window and tried to find something we could use to climb out. I saw a big tree. Suddenly, an idea came to my mind.

"Fiona, is there anything you can do with that tree?" I asked her, beckoning her next to me. She looked at the tree I was pointing at.

"Yes." she told me, before I helped her climb out of the window.

"Be careful!" I told her, as I left her hand. She slipped until she was standing on the gutter. I then saw her starting to grow the tree branch. I turned to the others, finding Enoch near me. "We're going through the windows." I told them. They all moved over and we opened the other window. I climbed out of the window closer to the tree branch and helped Emma out. I was a bit tiring, since she had her lean shoes and the blood loss was starting to take its toll on me. I let Emma go and she too slipped to stand on the gutter, helping the twins down from the other window. I saw Enoch climbing out and helping Claire. He then passed her to me and I hugged her. I let myself go and we both slipped down. I then touched the gutter with my feet and put down Claire, gently pushing her to Hugh. Then, I helped Horace and Bronwyn. I looked up to see Enoch trying to convince Olive to climb out. She was terrified. I climbed up to him and looked at her. "Olive, it's alright. We are here." I told her, trying to calm her down.

"Olive, please. Climb out. We won't let you fall. I would never let my sister fall." Enoch told her, offering her is hand. She looked behind her and I saw her eyes widen before she climbed out of the window. We took her and slipped down. We stood on the gutter, before moving toward the others, who were waiting for us near the tree branch. We started climbing on the branch. Enoch and I were the last one but, before I could climb on, I heard the Hollow breaking out of the window and look at us. I still had the crossbow with me. I turned to Enoch as I took the crossbow from my back.

"Go with the others, protect them." I told him, before aiming at the Hollow. He hesitated, before going to reach the others. I looked back at the Hollow and waited. Once my aim was good, I shoot, hitting the Hollow on the shoulder. I then looked up and saw the Nazis flying above our heads, and threw the crossbow down at Enoch, who was waiting near the tree. I looked back at the Hollow and saw her completely climbing out of the window. I saw the last plane fly and drop the bomb. I turned away and took a big breath. I then closed my eyes and imagined myself flying and suddenly, my bones were changing and I was flying. I looked at myself and saw black feathers. I tried to flew in the correct way and found out that it came natural to me, as if I had always been meant for the sky. I thought about it and it was actually true. I then flew down on Enoch's shoulder. He moved away and we saw the bomb falling on the Hollow. The house exploded before it became normal and then a burning ruin once more.

"The loop closed. It is gone." Enoch whispered, looking wide eyed at the destroyed house. He walked toward the house and took a trunk. He then walked back to the others, with me still perched on his shoulder, crossbow in hand. We reached the others on the beach where Emma and I had gone that afternoon to swim to the cruise ship. The children looked at us, eyes widening when they saw me. I decided to try to change back. After a few moments, I was actually able to and took the crossbow Enoch handed me. He then hugged me and kissed my temple.

"Is there any sign of Barron, mom and granny?" I asked, looking around and waiting for an answer.

"You're Miss Peregrine's granddaughter?" Claire asked me in awe.

"So, it was true." Millard said.

"Little Maryann became a mummy!" Fiona smiled. I nodded at them, still waiting to know.

"They're gone. Barron must have had a boat." Olive told me, answering my question.

"Well, we have to go after them. We know he is taking her to Blackpool." I told them.

"But Blackpool is miles away, and the next ferry doesn't go for hours." Millard told me.

"We'll never make it in time." Horace said. 'Wait just a moment…'

"Not unless we go by boat too!" I told them, looking at Emma. Her eyes brightened and she nodded. "Do you remember the cruise liner Augusta?" I asked them.

"The one that sank in 1915?" Hugh asked, to which I nodded. I saw them nod in understanding.

"Well, Emma knows where it is and she can free it from the water. We will be able to get it moving." I told them, seeing their faces getting happier. We all jumped into the water, with me tying the crossbow on my back. Emma helped us breath and we reached the ship. Emma then started blowing air and after some time, the ship saw free of water. "Olive, go start the ship's engines." I told her. She nodded and went to do what I asked. I went to the control room, where I found the others. Bronwyn then helped me sealing the doors. I then moved to the rudder and held on to it, Claire holding tight on my waist. The ship started moving to the surface, getting in a vertical position. We all had to hold onto something in order not to fall back. Once the ship righted itself I turned to see Olive and Emma coming in. We started the ship and I went back to the room Emma had showed me the chest was. Enoch followed me. I took out the chest and then the map, opening on the table. He looked at it and I pointed to the loop in Blackpool. "So, there's a loop here in Blackpool. It's only six months old. January 11th, 2016. With Miss Avocet gone it can't be reset." I explained to him, looking at his face. He nodded, thoughtful.

"Once the loop closes?" he asked me.

"Then it's back to real time." I answered.

"Jacky, you know what this means, don't you?" he asked me, looking at me with sad, resigned eyes.

"You're going to die." I told him, looking down at the map. He cupped my chin with his hand and raised my head to make me look at him.

"That's not what I mean. We have to get to our own time. But you don't. You can continue to live in 2016." he told me, making me frown.

"But why would I do that?" I asked him.

"If we kill Barron, he'll be gone but time will carry on. He won't go to Florida, Abe won't die and you can go home." he explained, making my eyes widen.

"I could see my grandpa." I said, seeing his eyes getting sadder. "But, I'm an Ymbryne. I belong to a loop. I belong to granny's loop." I told him. He looked at me with wide eyes. "And, besides, I can always go visit him, I'm an Ymbryne, after all." I told him, smiling. He smiled too.

"Your eyes have a black line around them." he told me, making my eyes grow large. I went in front of a mirror that was still hanging on the wall. I saw my eyes. It looked like makeup but it was permanently embedded in my skin. I turned to him.

"Do I still look okay?" I asked him.

"You look even more beautiful than before." he breathed out, walking closer to me. He came to stand in front of me, and we both leaned in. Before anything could happen, the door opened and the others came in. We separated and looked at them.

"So, have we found Miss Avocet's loop on the map yet?" Olive asked me. I nodded at her.

"It's here, but it's new, she made it earlier this year. It's my year. If we don't get out before it closes, we're stuck in January 2016." I explained them.

"Great! So, time catches up with all of us, we all die except you! Plan?" Horace asked me.

"First of all, I'm an Ymbryne. If worst comes to worst, I'll try to create a loop myself." I told him, making him nod. "Second, loop closes at 4:30. I mean, we need to get in, rescue the Ymbrynes and get out." I told them all.

"Miss Avocet said the machine is in the cellar of the Blackpool Tower building. That means we'll be indoors with Hollows." Enoch told me, looking at me with furrowed eyebrows. 'God, he's handsome…'

"No, we won't! I've got a plan, but I'm going to need your help." I told them, making them nod. We moved to the table, where the map still was. We all stood in circle around it. "First step: we need to attract the Hollows outside, so that we could take care of them." I told them. Before I could continue though, Emma stopped me.

"How can we take care of them?" she asked me, astounded.

"We are on a ship full of skeletons. We would need a necromancer." I told them, turning to Enoch. He widened his eyes, before he smirked and nodded. The others too started smiling. I turned back to them.

"Second step: we need to stop Barron, before he can start the experiment. I will need all of you for this, though." I told them, to which they all nodded. "The third and final step is to save all the Ymbrynes and going into the loop before it's too late." I told them. "Any questions?" I asked around. They shook their heads, before Claire raised her hand. "Yes, Claire?" I asked her with a small smile.

"You're acting like Miss Peregrine, you are in charge." she said, a smile on her lips. The others voiced their assent, before we went to the control room. 'Mom, granny, we are coming.'


	5. Chapter 5

**Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children**

 _ **Chapter 5**_

After some time, we finally arrived at the port. During the trip, Emma and Olive did their best to help me with the wound on my neck. It hurt, and sometimes it made it difficult for me to focus. We stopped the ship and I gathered the others around me. "Okay. Here is the plan. Phase one: Emma, Millard and I will go into the tower and provoke Mr. Barron to send the Hollows after us. We will bring them to the Ghost Train, where the youngest will use snow and sweets to make them visible. This way you will know where they are." I told them, seeing them nod. "Then, once we have all the Hollows together, Enoch will use the hearts he brought along to bring some of the skeletons back to life ant they will destroy the Hollows." I said, turning to Enoch. He nodded, eye worried. "Phase two: we'll get into the Blackpool tower and stop Barron. He probably has friends with him, so we have to be ready to fight against more the one bad Peculiar." I told them.

"How will we be able to defeat them?" Claire asked me. I turned to her and saw her eyes wide. I knelt and hugged her to me.

"Together." I told her, making her nod and smile. I then stood up and turned to the others. "I want Claire and the twins on the higher floor, so that they will be less noticed. Bronwyn," I said, turning to her. "I need you to take over Barron if I'm not able to, but be safe while you do." she nodded at my words. "Phase three: once we defeated Barron and his friends, we'll go free mom, granny and the other Ymbrynes. After that, we'll get back to the loop and find another beautiful home for all of us." I told them. They all nodded and smile. I then hugged the children, before kissing Enoch on the cheek as I went. Emma and Millard where following after me and we arrived to the entrance of the loop. I entered the loop, stopping before the exit. I turned to Millard. "Millard, there's something I need you to do first." I told him.

"Alright, I know." he told me, starting to get undressed. We then exited and I looked around.

"Look! There's the tower. It's not far." I told them as we walked.

"Easy for you say! I'm freezing." Millard told me. I beckoned him closer and he hugged me, mindful not to let people see something strange. We reached the tower and hid from view. We then went over to the higher floor and hid behind the chairs there. I looked down and saw Barron with four Hollows and four people. The Hollows were three males and a female, same with the humans. The people were seated on chairs, while the Hollows were standing.

"How many Hollows can you see?" Emma asked, from my right side.

"Four. It's good news." I told her, relieved.

"I think you and I have a very different definition of good news." Emma told me, voice shaking. I turned to her.

"It means Barron's other friends haven't arrived yet. Means they haven't started the experiment. We're not too late." I explained to her, causing her to nod. I then took the rope Millard handed me and looked at Emma. "Ok Emma, you ready?" I asked her, to which she nodded. "You know what to say." I told her, tying the rope around her waist while she untied her shoes. She then floated up and I kept a tight hold of the rope, not wanting to risk her floating to the ceiling.

"Hey! You down there. We killed your Hollow friend Mr. Barron and now we've come for Miss Peregrine. Bring her and all the other Ymbrynes to the end of the pier in five minutes. Or face the consequences." Emma spoke, gaining the attention of the Hollows and Barron's friends. She spoke with stealth in her voice and that made me proud of her. I then tugged her down and we ran. We exited the tower. I looked back to see two of the men with the four Hollows behind them looking for us. As I ran, I felt something stop me. I turned back and saw Emma stuck in the cables of the rain binary. "Jacky, I'm stuck! Hurry up!" she told me, scared. I tugged her down and was finally able to free her. "Let's go." she told me. I looked back to see one of the men, the thinner one, being ran over by the train. I ran to the Ghost Train, where we all entered. Emma stopped and Millard handed her back her lead shoes. As she was tying them, I left Millard with her, so that he could dress up once more. I went out and saw Enoch waiting by the ship.

"Enoch, now!" I told him, watching as he went back into the ship. The children then followed me and I brought them to the other side of the loop, where Emma and Millar had taken some sweets and snowballs on the roof of the Ghost Train. I helped them up and took my crossbow, moving to the side of the Ghost Train. "Go, now!" I ordered to the children, seeing them taking the snowballs and throwing them at the nearing Hollows. They then started throwing sweets at the Hollows, who were now visible to everyone. "Emma! Go!" I told her. She moved behind the cotton candy machine. Olive took off the lid and Emma blew over the cotton candy, making it fly over to the Hollows. Suddenly, many skeletons ran out of the Ghost Train and to the Hollows. They fought and killed three of them plus the last man. I then saw the fourth Hollow being thrown off into the sea by a carousel horse. We then reunited. I checked to see if everyone was here and sighed in relief when no one was missing.

"Alright, good job guys. It's time for Step 2." I told them, making them nod.

"Save the Miss Peregrine and Annie." Bronwyn said, excited. I smiled at her, shaking my head.

"That's... sort of step 3. First, we've got to deal with Barron. Come on." I told them, before we walked to the tower. We entered and hid. The children went to the higher floor, while Enoch, Emma and I hid behind a fake elephant. Olive hid behind the curtains. We were waiting for the right moment to attack. We heard the woman tell Barron he was not serious.

"Do I not look serious? Do I not look like a man who has trudged the globe looking for just one more eye to eat in hopes of regaining sufficient humanity to return to his research? A man who spent years hunting Ymbrynes in preparation for this night. And 2... no... 3 days in Wales pretending to look at birds. I assure you I will not stand idly by to see my destiny derailed." Barron snapped at his two friends who were still seated. I saw Barron moving closer to us told Emma to blow air at him, pushing him against a round table, one that was used as a target for the daggers. I then shot him an arrow, hitting him in the right shoulder. I missed, since I was aiming at the heart. The woman and the man came to us when Barron said "Get them!"

"Hugh, do it now!" I ordered him, whispering. He nodded and let his bees out and they attacked the two. They tried to shoo the bees away. The woman ripped her gown, revealing pants and animal legs. They looked like monkey's legs. She climbed on one of the metal pillars and took hold of one of the ropes. She then threw herself down and, with the help of her tail, she stayed attached to the rope while also taking a bucket full of knives. She then jumped on another metal pillar and started throwing knives at us. We hid as best as we could to avoid them. I heard the man throwing himself in the little pool of water and staying under it. Before I could move to stop him, Enoch jumped out of our hiding spot and attacked Barron, who got free from my arrow and was walking toward me. Barron took him down, making my heart stop. 'Enoch…'

I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to look at Emma. I loaded the crossbow and shot another arrow, missing once more. "Bronwyn!" I whispered to her. She ripped one of the chairs and threw it at Barron, hitting him in the head. He was able to get it off and stand up once more. I didn't move my eyes from him when Barron started talking once more.

"You think you can stand in my way? You Jake, content to age and die as if you had not the gift of peculiarity, at all? I am a higher being. I hold a secret to eternal life." Barron taunted me, making me angry. As he did, Olive ran behind him. I could see the anger in her eyes. She took off one of her gloves and touched Barron's shoulder, saying "Sorry to interrupt.". Barron's coat was on fire and he tried to move away. He then took off his coat and threw it at Olive, making her fall. I then moved to shoot another arrow but, before I could, he threw a rope around it and took it from my hands. I then took another arrow from my jacket and went to stab him myself. He hit me on my neck wound, reopening it and making me fall down with a scream. The pain was almost unbearable. He then moved to the Ymbrynes.

"Don't let him get to the birds!" I said, trying not to cringe when my throat burned with pain. Horace moved in the way of Barron are tried to blind him, which worked for just a few seconds, before Barron moved closer to him, putting his hands on Horace's shoulders, laughing. He then touched Horace's jacket, and looked serious.

"You must put me in contact with your tailor." he told Horace, before harshly throwing him on the ground. He then kept walking. "Ymbrynes... Ymbrynes... Here I come!" he sang on the way. I felt hands helping me up and turned to see Emma. I stood up with her help, then we ran after Barron, my wound making it difficult for me to keep my balance. I knew the wounds had started bleeding once again. I stopped, leaning on the wall for support. I started having vertigos and tried to breath. Emma came closer and untied the bloody foulard from around my neck. She then squeezed the foulard, making some blood drip down. She then tied it back, tighter enough to stop the flow of blood. It also helped with the pain. We then kept following after Barron. We reached him and I shot him another arrow with my crossbow, which I had took back before following Barron. Unfortunately, the blood loss was too much and I missed, shooting the arrow to the wall near him. This, of course, made him turn to me. Before he could say anything, Emma came to stand in front of me.

"I'll hold him as long as I can." she told me, before blowing air at him. He was pushed back into the wall and I made my way into the room where the Ymbrynes where kept. I entered and locked the door behind me. I turned around and saw a big cage in the centre, with five Ymbrynes perched inside. I then looked around and found the cage where my mom and granny were perched in. It was on the right side of the big cage. I put the crossbow near the door and reached the cage. I touched it, trying to find the lock. I didn't find it. I then moved around, before I felt something hit the door. I looked around and she Barron taking down the door with his hand turned into and axe. As I turned around, I saw an electric machine. I went to it and unlocked the cage. I then moved in front of the cage and looked at the Ymbrynes.

"Find your children. Create new loops." I told them, before I turned to the door. Barron was able to create a hole in the door. He smiled at me.

"So, Jacky, I see you've inherited your grandfather's peculiarity. You're just as annoying as he was. Speaking of Abe, if you should see him in the afterlife, give him my regards." he told me, entering the room and walking closer to me. As he did, I opened the cage and moved to the side, near the cage where mom and granny were in. I saw the Ymbrynes attacking Barron and I turned to my family. I opened their cage and looked at them.

"Please, we can't risk him taking you again." I told them. I turned when I heard the Ymbrynes fling away. Barron looked at me and came closer. But, before he could touch me, mom and granny flew out of the cage and scratched him on the face. They then flew out, making me let out a sigh in relief. 'They are finally safe…'

"You've lost Miss Peregrine. You've lost everything! It's over!" I taunted him, as he came closer. Before he could do something, we heard a female voice call "Jacky?". 'Emma… No, go away…'

"Jacky?" I heard Enoch's voice, making my heart fill with joy at the knowledge he was safe but making it sank with the fear Barron might hurt him again. Barron turned to me and smirked, before changing into a perfect copy of myself.

"Jacky?" I heard Emma call once more, before both her and Enoch entered the room. My eyes widened as I saw them freeze at the sight of two Jacky.

"Emma? Enoch. Wait, that's not me. It is Barron." I told them, walking closer to them.

"Don't listen to her. She is Barron." Barron told them with my voice.

"I'm Jacky. That's Barron." I tried to make them see the truth. Enoch looked at us and took the crossbow from where I had left it and aimed it at the both of us.

"Well, I got better shot than Jake. So, neither of you move till we sort this." he said, voice hard and eyes cold. I was scared. 'I have never seen him like this…'

"Listen to me. I'm Jacky. I grew up in Florida and I wanted to be an explorer. I never thought nothing would ever change because I was ordinary." Barron told them, making my eyes widen.

"That's Jacky. Get Barron." Emma told Enoch, pointing at me.

"Wait! I told him all of this. She was my psychiatrist." I told them, seeing their eyes widen.

"Look. You deal with her. I'll go find Miss Peregrine." I heard Barron tell them, making to step forward, but Enoch aimed the crossbow at him.

"Jacky would want to kill Barron herself…" Enoch said, voice low. His words reassured me a bit. Before I could try to say something, I saw a Hollow, a male one and soaked, walking toward us. I looked at him. 'He's the one who was thrown into the water by Bronwyn.'

"Wait. I can prove that I'm me." I told them, looking at Enoch with pleading eyes. He stared at me, before nodding at me, letting me continue. "Because I am not ordinary. I can do something that no one else can." I told them, looking back at the monster, before looking at Barron. He was looking at me with wide eyes. "First of all, I'm an Ymbryne." I told him, seeing his eyes widen as he didn't copy the lines around my eyes. "And second, I can see the monsters." I told him. He turned around, trying to see where the Hollow was. Before he could, the tentacles the Hollow put around Barron's neck tightened and raised him up.

"Wait, it's me!" Barron told him, turning back into himself. I looked at Emma and Enoch and saw them staring at them. I looked back and saw the monster stab Barron's eyes, before taking them out and eating them, letting Barron's lifeless body fall on the ground. The Hollow then turned to me and made to attack.

"Enoch!" I said. He threw me the crossbow and I shot the last arrow, hitting the Hollow in the head. He fell down, dead. As I lowered my weapon, Enoch came to me and hugged me, before kissing me. I stood frozen, before closing my eyes and kissing him back. It was awesome. It was like millions of fireworks exploding in my chest. After a few moments, we heard a troth clear and we turned to Emma, who was looking at us with a smirk and a little blush on her cheeks. We separated, before I took Enoch's hand. He squeezed my hand and smiled at me. We followed her, as she went out of the room and toward the Ghost Train. As I was walking, the blood loss took its toll on me once again. I felt lightheaded and Enoch put an arm around my waist to help me walk, his free hand taking a hold of my left one. We reached the entrance of the loop, before Enoch stopped and turned to me.

"Are you sure…" he started to ask before I interrupted him with a firm nod. He smiled and we walked through the loop, going back to the 1943. We reached the ship, where the others were already waiting for us. They all smiled as they saw me. They came to hug me, one by one, and I was so happy to finally be with them again. I looked around, trying to see my mother and my granny. We all heard two cried and looked up. I did so with a bit of difficulty. I saw two beautiful peregrine falcons flying in the sky. I smiled as the planed down. They turned back to humans and came to hug me. I hugged them back, crying with joy. They kissed me on the cheeks and forehead, before they went to hug the children. Enoch came to me once again. I hugged him, before Olive reached us and I hugged her back.

"I think, we all could use some peace now." she told me, making all of us laugh. We went into the ship and to the control room. We sailed and granny decided to go to Wales once more, to find another beautiful house to turn into a loop for all of us. Mom and granny helped me with the wound, healing it with their powers over time. I then went to look for Enoch. I found him on the deck of the ship and smiled, turning into my animal form. I wanted to make Horace's dream come true and flew over the ship. He raised his eyes at me and smiled. I flew down, turning back into a human and hugged him. Before I could kiss him, he leaned down and put his lips on mine. I smiled in the kiss and we kissed once more, putting all our feelings into it. When we separated, he looked into my eyes.

"I love you, Jacky. My brave Ymbryne." he breathed out, making my eyes widen and my smile to become even larger.

"I love you, too. Enoch. My handsome necromancer." I told him, leaning up to kiss him again. He instantly kissed me back. As we did, we heard cheers and separated. We looked around and saw the children with mom and granny widely smiling at us. We smiled at them, before turning to each other. Our eyes met and we broke down laughing, hugging once more.

-10 years later-

"And that is how he defeated Mr. Barron and his friends." I told Shaw, my little six years old baby boy. He had dark hair and eyes like his father and was sitting on his bed, listening to my story. He reminded me of myself, when I listened to grandpa's stories.

"But, the other Hollows?" he asked me. I smiled at him, kissing his forehead as I stood up.

"I'll tell you about them another time." I told him, tucking him into bed. I kissed his forehead once more. "Good night, my little poult. Sweet dreams." I wished him, a warm smile on my face. He smiled back and called his homunculus to him. I watched as the little clay soldier walked into my baby's arms. 'Just like his father…'

I then went out of the room but, before I closed the door, I heard my little one talk. "Good night, mama." he told me, making me smile as I closed the door without a sound. I then walked back to my room. I thought back at grandpa. I had gone to visit him after we created a new loop.

-flashback-

I was happy to see him alive. I told him everything. When I was finished, he looked at me with serious eyes and asked "Are you happy?", to which I nodded. Then his face broke into a smile and he stood up. I did too and he hugged me. I hugged him back. "Go to them and be happy. This was everything your grandmother and I had ever wanted for you."

I nodded and could feel my eyes full of tears. He kissed my cheeks and I turned into a falcon, causing him laugh. I then flew back home, where Enoch was waiting for me. I smiled at him, telling him about the visit as we went inside our beautiful new home.

-flashback's end-

He did two years later of old age. I was sad when it happened, but not as sad as I was first time I had lost him. I knew that now he was in peace with my grandmother. I smiled as I reached the door. I entered, mindful not to make any noise, and saw my husband waiting for me. He was leaning against the wall and looking up at the moon, already in his pyjamas. He didn't change in these ten years, neither one of us did except for my baby boy, who was growing into a healthy little man. I went to him and hugged him from behind. He turned to me with a smile and kissed me. Our kisses were still as passionate as our first had been.

"Which story was it this time?" he asked me.

"Mr. Barron." I answered him with a smile, laying my head on his chest. I heard and felt him chuckle, before he moved back. He put an arm around my neck and another under my knees and picked me up bride style. I giggled as he brought me to our bed and gently laid me down on it. I moved back to make some space for him and he to laid down. I went near him and hugged him. He hugged me back, before moving a bit. In the end, he was lying on his back, his arms around me as I laid my head on his chest, lying down on my left side. He looked at me and kissed me.

"Goodnight, my Ymbryne wife." he told me with a smirk.

"Goodnight, my Necromancer husband." I replied, my eyes full of love. His eyes showed me the same love. We then fell into a peaceful sleep. 'I love my life.' was the last thing I thought, before sleep claimed me.

THE END, OR MAYBE NOT?


End file.
